Taking a Hint
by Foamsatmouth
Summary: Clueless isn't a word Beast Boy would use to describe himself. Cool, awesome, epic, and splendiferous are more up his alley. But apparently...clueless is exactly what he is.
1. Chapter 1

_**Keep her fingers crossed that I can use this to overcome my writers block for Those Violet Eyes!**_

* * *

Beast Boy was annoyed. No, wait, _peeved_. Yeah, that was a better word. _Peeved_ was what he was right now. Why? Well, it was because there were A LOT of people in the tower right now. All the Titans, honorary and actual members, were in the tower celebrating their victory over the Brotherhood of Evil. A victory that _Beast Boy_ ensured.

He could admit that he liked the praises, it was pretty cool to be the hero of the day. But he didn't want _too_ much. A couple of congratulations and well dones were all he needed, maybe a free tofu pizza or two and a pint of chunky monkey ice cream to top it off, followed by hours and hours of uninterrupted gaming, then a tofu feast. Okay, all he wanted was the food. Shape shifting was pretty tiring and he hadn't fully recovered from the fight.

It was only yesterday that they had all returned from Paris and he was still wore out from it. He hadn't fought that hard since the fight against Raven's dad, now that he thought about it. That had been a _way_ tougher fight though, seeing as he had to deal with some kinda super demon and some evil version of himself that said some pretty nasty things. Raven was totes lucky she didn't have to fight that one.

Speaking of Raven, she had been awfully quiet today, even for her. He'd only seen her twice today, once at breakfast and once when Lightning had went to try her tea without asking permission. She had appeared out of nowhere, quite irritated, and quite plainly told him to take a hike.

Normally Beast Boy would have argued in Lightning's defense, but Raven was obviously still tired from being on the front line with him during the fight yesterday. She didn't usually snap at someone so quickly unless she was tired. Heck, she hadn't yelled at _him_ in a pretty good while, even though he had pulled a few pranks on her in the past few weeks. She had just shook them off and scolded him. It was kinda odd, especially for her.

But yesterday he had seen her fighting _Malchior_. How that damned dragon got there nobody knew, but Beast Boy had been _pissed_ when he saw that scaly bastard. He still hadn't, and probably never would, forgive him for making Raven cry.

Raven, on the other hand, had merely beat him down once more and added him to the collection of frozen villains. How she had remained calm during that fight was beyond him. _But_ she had been barely able to stand after all the fighting was done, so he guessed she had put a bit more into her attacks that she let on. Beast Boy had volunteered to carry her through Herald's portal to the tower, knowing that he still owed her one or two for healing him after some backfired pranks on Cyborg. To his surprise, as well as some of the other Titans, she had accepted without protest.

He had toted Raven from a battlefield a time or two before, but this was… _different_. She was oddly quiet the whole time, but she did say thank you after he lay her down in the med bay. She had even given him a little smile.

It was weird.

Back in the present, Beast Boy frowned at himself for letting his mind wander again. He _really_ needed to keep better track of it. He glared at the empty cabinet before him.

His stash of sugar cookies was gone, as was Raven's stash of macadamia nut cookies. He _specifically_ hid his behind hers because she had thrown Cyborg out of the tower for taking some after eating his own. All the Titans learned that day Raven didn't share her tea or cookies (something about them helping her meditation or whatnot) and Cyborg hadn't come near that cabinet ever since.

But _someone_ had taken _both_ packs and, judging from the scents in the room, handed them out.

Beast Boy scowled and closed the cabinet door. Maybe there was some ice cream in the fridge. He wanted something sugary right now, something sweet to deal with all these aggravating new scents and noises in his home. It wasn't bad if it was just Titans East, but all these other people? Nah, not cool.

He opened the freezer and found that there was no ice cream.

Soda?

He opened the fridge and found there was no soda.

Candy?

He opened his super secret stash of licorice and laffy taffy, hidden in a 'spare' bread box, and found that there was no candy.

Beast Boy was about three seconds from screaming when someone spoke behind him.

"Whatcha lookin for Beast Boy?"

Said boy turned and found Robin leaning against the counter, sipping a glass of water. Beast Boy frowned.

"What am I looking for? Dude, there's no soda or ice cream and someone's been in both my stashes! They even took _Raven's_ cookies!" He said in exasperation.

Robin nodded. "I know, they got my jolly ranchers, Starfire's pixie stix, and Cy's snickers too. But its just a temporary thing, Beast Boy. We invited them all to stay with us for a couple of days to get everyone sorted out and introduced and to start new teams so that we don't have a repeat of yesterday. We all knew our food was up for grabs and our privacy was at risk when we did this."

Beast Boy couldn't help but to pout. "Fiiiine. But the sooner they leave, the better. I haven't even got to play the game station with them here hogging it!"

"Agreed." Robin said with a nod as he looked out at the assembled teenagers. There were a few that weren't present. Starfire, Red Star, and Argent were out grocery shopping with a list Cyborg had made. When they had left the alien princess was speaking excitedly to the Russian in a language Robin didn't understand. It made him very suspicious when Red Star had laughed and responded to whatever she said. If that stinkin' Ruski had kis-

"Dude, do you think we should tell Rae about her cookies?" Beast Boy said fearfully.

Robin immediately shook his head. "No thanks, I chose _life_."

"Me too, but she might think that _I_ ate them and I totally don't want her to kill me over something I haven't done!"

"She's going to know you didn't do it. You've kept yours hidden behind hers for two months and didn't take any."

Beast Boy glanced at his team leader. "Dude, how'd you know that?"

Robin grinned. "Raven told me the first day she found them."

"Was she mad?"

"Nah, she thought it was amusing. And then she took a cookie from your pack and ate it."

Beast Boy frowned and opened his mouth to protest, but he paused in thought. Losing _one or two_ cookies to Raven in exchange for protecting the _whole_ _pack_ from the bottomless pit named Cyborg was actually kind of a good deal.

"She still better not blame me." Beast Boy muttered as he leaned against the fridge.

"If she does, just offer to use your enhanced sense of smell to find out who actually did it and point them out."

"Pft, like she'd believe me."

"She would." Robin reassured his friend. "You know how hard it is to lie to her, being an empath and all."

Beast Boy thought about this for a few minutes before nodding. "Yeah, okay. I'll give ya that."

Robin started to say something, but they were interrupted by three loud noises.

The first was _Booyah!_

The second was the sound of cracking wood.

The third was _Oops!_

Both heads snapped over to find Cyborg sitting with arm laying over, Thunder's under his from where they were arm wrestling. The table they had been using was broken from the impact of the final slam.

"Cyborg! Thunder!" Robin shouted, storming off in their direction.

"It wasn't me!" Cy shouted back, jumping up and backing away to leave the other guy in the danger zone.

Beast Boy got a good laugh as Robin started chewing the two of them out, happy that it wasn't _him_ getting yelled at. After his mirth had dispersed, he looked around the room. Aqualad, Speedy, Kid Flash, and Jericho were playing the game station, Kole was sitting with Pantha and Bumblebee, Jinx (man, it was _weird_ to see her here!) was relaxing in a chair across from Kilowatt and Lightning, who were playing cards. Herald was cleaning his trumpet, with Mas y Minos watching and asking questions as he did so. Gnark was sitting near a window and looking out over the bay as Bushido wiped his blade clean a few feet away. That left-

"Where are my cookies?"

Beast Boy nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of Raven's voice behind him. He hadn't heard her enter and hadn't smelt her vanilla incense scent getting closer. She hadn't always smelled like that, it was something that started the day after her father's defeat, but Beast Boy knew it well enough that he _should_ have noticed her the moment she entered the room. But he hadn't since all these new people were here.

"Uhhh…." Was all he could say as he looked at her nervously.

She stepped closer, an annoyed look on her hooded face. "Beast Boy. Tell me who ate my cookies. I _know_ you can track the scents, that's how you find your tofu when Cyborg hides it."

 _Cheesus Crust, Rob was right!_ He thought to himself as he looked around the room and inhaled deeply. Determining things by scent was a unique experience that only he could partake in and he thoroughly enjoyed doing it not just because he could identify people by their scent, but because he could determine their _mood_ too. It wasn't something he knew how to explain though.

For example, he knew that both Gnark and Kole had had a cookie of Raven's, but it had been given to them because someone else's scent faintly mingled with theirs. Kilowatt had also had a couple of cookies, but he too had received them. He knew that Bushido was actually feeling gassy (TMI dude) and that Jinx had been kissing Kid Flash recently. Aqualad smelled like he needed a shower and Speedy…

"Speedy." Beast Boy declared. Several people looked at him, then at Raven as her head snapped towards the boy in question.

She didn't hesitate to call out. "Speedy!"

The archer tore his eyes away from the television screen for a moment. "Huh?"

"You took my cookies." Raven said in a level tone. "Admit it and apologize."

"What? I'm not saying sorry for taking some cookies that were just sitting in the cabinet!" Speedy huffed.

"Is that so?" She said softly. The room got deadly quiet as Raven stared at Speedy, who suddenly began to feel very nervous under the icy glare.

"Look, Raven, it's just a pack of cookies!" He said defensively. Raven instantly teleported over to the couch and loomed over the now cowering boy.

"No, Speedy, it wasn't _just a pack of cookies._ They were _my_ cookies, cookies I eat when I drink my tea, tea that I drink that helps keep me calm when the maelstrom of emotions known as _my friends_ comes knock at the door to my sanity. You people are _noisy,_ both _physically_ and _emotionally_ , and it is _very_ patience testing to someone who likes the _peace_ and _quiet_ like me. So when I come out of a nice meditating session to spend time with my friends, I want a cup of tea and _my cookies_. I have half a mind to drop you in another dimension for this!" She hissed, growing larger and shadowy. Other than Speedy, the people around her bolted for cover. The poor archer was stricken with fear, unable to look away from the now towering empath. A shadowy tentacle snaked out of her form and reached for Speedy to-

"Gnark?"

Raven paused, glancing at the trembling caveman who had somehow approached her unnoticed. He was covering his head and holding up…a cookie. One of _her_ cookies! Her glance turned into a questioning stare as she looked at Kole.

"Speedy gave both of us a couple but Gnark didn't like the first one so he didn't eat the second." Kole said hurriedly.

"Gnark gnark gnark gnark, gnark gnark gnark gnark gnark gnark!"

"He also said 'tell her I'm sorry, I didn't know they were yours'." Kole translated again. "I'm sorry too!"

Raven was quiet for a moment before she took a deep breath and released it slowly. The shadowy form faded away as she shrunk back down to her original size. After she had done so, she gently reached over and took the cookie from the caveman.

"Thank you Gnark, Kole, for being honest and apologizing. I know it seems silly to get upset over cookies, but Cyborg has a bad habit of eating whatever he can get his hands on and its left me without the only thing that I enjoy eating with herbal tea more than a few times." Raven said softly. "I'm sorry for scaring you."

"Gnark gnark gnark."

"He said 'its okay Raven'." Kole nodded. "I've gotten mad at Gnark for eating my blueberries, so I can kinda understand."

Raven returned the nod and proceeded to the kitchen once more. Beast Boy saw Gnark look over at Speedy, who was still frozen with fear.

" _Gnark_."

Kole gasped. "Gnark! Language!"

The animorph then glanced at Raven, who had telekinetically retrieved her tea kettle and put it on the stove. She didn't _look_ annoyed anymore, but looks were _very_ deceiving with this girl. He glanced around the room, looking for anything her powers damaged. When he found nothing, he looked back at her.

She was floating there in front of the stove with a faint smile on her face as she waited on her water to boil. She was happy…over a cookie? Definitely not a normal thing for her.

"Heya Rae…you okay?" He asked after a moment.

"Hm?" She looked over at him. "Yes? Why do you ask?"

"Well…" Beast Boy trailed off as he tried to figure out how to explain his concern over her behavior. When he couldn't think of anything, he decided to just wing it. "Nothing blew up."

Raven looked around the room, at the people who were slowly resuming their activities, and at the undamaged furniture. She then glanced back at him, her smile widening minutely.

"You're quite right."

He scratched his head in confusion. "But _why_? I thought when you got mad stuff blew up."

"That was because I had to keep my emotions suppressed to lessen any effects that might father could have on me. Now that he's destroyed, I'm mostly free to feel whatever I desire."

"Mostly?"

Raven nodded. "Yes, _mostly_. There are a few emotions I have yet to test."

 _That_ caught Beast Boy's attention. "Oh? Like what?"

"Hm…let's see. Excitement, jealousy, anxiety, just to name a few." Raven said offhandedly before her kettle began to whistle. Knowing about her companions sensitive ears, she quickly took it off the burner. Beast Boy pondered what she said as she prepared a cup of tea.

 _Maybe there's a way I can help her try that stuff out? Might be kinda fun, I hardly ever get to do stuff with Rae. Hm…lets see…Wicked Scary Two is coming out in a few days, that should be exciting, right? I could talk Robin into the team going to watch it, even if I gotta trick Starfire into doing it for me. Hm, what's next? Jealousy? Dunno if I got anything she would want…oh, what if I bought I book SHE wants, that would make her jealous, right?! Ohh, then I could read it and tease her about the good parts without telling her the details! That would totally make her anxious to read it! Shoot, I'll do all three! Yes! Perfect plan, Beast Boy!_

"Oh, and love."

Beast Boy's plan came to a screeching halt in his brain, resulting in a five car pile up, two train wrecks, and someone letting the chickens out of the coop. "Huh?"

She turned back to him, sipping her tea. Her eyes were filled with the same kind of look that Starfire gave Robin and he had no idea why. After a moment, she spoke softly. "You heard me correctly, Beast Boy. I want to know what loving someone and being loved by someone feel like."

"Ooookaaayyy." Beast Boy said slowly. _That_ was something he had no idea how to help her with, seeing as the only girl he had liked (that liked him back) turned traitor and tried to kill all of them. "Uhh…so…does that mean there's a guy you like?"

"Mmhmm." She replied, taking another sip of her tea, her eyes still planted on him. "I've had my eye on him for a while now, but I had to make sure I was free to express my interest in him before I tried asking him out."

"Oh, okay. That's cool, Rae, honest." Beast Boy smiled. "I'm glad you can run around and be happy like the rest of us."

Her smiled widened a little. "Thank you Beast Boy."

"So what's this dude like?" He asked, looking around the room. He was sure he could figure out who it was with enough hints.

"Well…he's kind and sweet, a bit protective of his friends, and kinda funny in the right situations." Raven said softly into her teacup. "I'm pretty sure he's smarter than he let's on too."

 _Kind and sweet? Hmm…Jericho seems to fit that, but we just met him. Protective of his friends? Robin? Nah, Rob's the obsessive type. Kinda funny? Hmm…well, I'm the only funny one here, but Rae's only laughed at two of my jokes. Maybe this dude is the smart funny type? I need more info!_

"So, uh, is this dude a hottie or something? I mean, does he look good to you?" He asked, glancing at her.

There was a slight blush on her face as she looked away. "…yes. I think he looks… _exotic_."

 _Exotic, huh?_ Beast Boy thought to himself. _Gotta be Aqualad_. _He is a pretty nice guy and I know he's the first to jump in a fight for his Titans East buddies. He does have a few good fish jokes too…yeah, definitely Aqualad._

"You should ask him out. Like, _today_." Beast Boy said suddenly, knowing he needed to talk her into it _now_ , before she went and hid in her room as usual.

Raven appeared to be startled. "I should?"

He nodded. "Yeah, definitely."

"Why's that?"

"Dude, you are the one person in this _entire room_ that deserves to smile! If you seriously think this dude can do that for you, then you need to ask him out! He's gotta be in this room, right? Go ask him out!" Beast Boy said with a hint of disbelief. How could the smartest person he knew not know this? She had more right to happiness more than _anyone_ he knew.

The girl before him proceeded to look down at her drink almost sadly. It was a very un-Raven-like thing to do and unnerved him slightly "I want to…but we haven't always gotten along. I had to keep everyone at arms length for a long time, remember? I…had to be harsh with him a few times…so that what I felt for him couldn't be used against me. I kind of doubt he'd even say yes. I know I just said that I want to experience love, but at the same time I'm kind of… _scared_ … he will reject me."

 _I don't remember her being like that with Aqualad. Maybe it IS Robin? Gosh, I hope not, Starfire hasn't told him her feelings yet._ _That would make things soooo weird around here._ Beast Boy thought to himself. _Still…she needs to say it. If I had said it to Terra sooner, we could have saved her, I'm sure of it._

"You still need to tell him, Rae. You're not the same person you were back then. You're _way_ cooler now." Beast Boy said with a grin, hoping what he said would cheer her up. "If there was a girl crushin' on me, I'd _definitely_ wanna know."

It must have cheered her up considerably, seeing as her smile returned. "Well…if you insist. Will you-"

"Yo BB!"

Beast Boy turned around to see Cyborg holding up a _huge_ bag candy, an evil grin on his face.

"You, me, candy eating test, _now!_ " Cy said daringly.

"You're on!" Beast Boy yelled at him. Then he looked back at Raven. "Dude, go ask him out. _Seriously_."

As he darted over to his other friend and the growing crowd of people, he couldn't help but wonder why Raven had scowled.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Helllloooo readers! I'm glad to see you guys and gals like this little project of mine. A few people have asked me about it and why I'm working on it and not Those Violet Eyes or, amusingly enough, Are You A Loli.**_

 _ **The answer is writers block.**_

 _ **It sucks.**_

 _ **Hope you guys like this chapter too!**_

* * *

"You ready for this BB?" Cyborg asked as he poured the huge bag of candy onto the table.

"Dude, I was _born_ ready for this." Beast Boy replied as he licked his lips. He couldn't help but to eyeball the mound hungrily. He sweet tooth was _totally_ about to get the mother of all bellyaches.

And he was okay with that.

"Loser does a week of chores for the other guy." Cyborg grinned. " _Including_ washing the T-Car."

"If that's the case, you gotta clean my room." Beast Boy shot back, wrinkling his nose at the thought of spending so much time in the garage with all of Cy's chemicals.

"What?! I don't have a hazmat suit!"

"Too bad Tin Man. I don't have a gas mask either."

"You don't need a gas mask, grass stain."

"And _you_ don't need a hazmat suit, Rust Bucket'"

"Ladies, ladies, you're both the prettiest princess, so settle down."

Both Beast Boy and Cyborg glared at Aqualad, who had just walked up after losing interest in the gamestation.

"Don't make fun of us cause you're too much of a wuss to beat either one of us!" Cyborg snorted.

"Yeah fish sticks, go flop on someone else's shore." Beast Boy snickered.

" _Please_ , I can beat both of you easily." Aqualad scoffed. "Let me get my candy stash out of the T-ship two and I'll show you who's the champion candy eater of Titans East!"

"Go get it then, Shark Bait!" Beast Boy laughed. "We'll wait."

"SHARK BAIT OOH HA HA!" Cyborg shouted as he pounded on the table. There were more than a few snickers in the crowd as Aqualad made a face and stomped away. Beast Boy and Cyborg grinned and fist bumped.

It took about ten mimutes, but Aqualad finally came back with a huge bag of…

"Dude… are those Swedish fish gummies?" Beast Boy asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, we can't get them in Atlantis, so I stockpile as much as I can and snack on them whenever." The Atlantean nodded. Then he grinned evilly. "But I can eat _tons_ of these."

"Isn't that basically cannibalism?" Cyborg asked slowly.

"No! They're not _real_ fish! They're gummies!" Aqualad said defensively.

"Oh, so you're _Sharkboy,_ not Shark Bait." Beast Boy chuckled. " _Water_ ever _floats your boat_ , dude."

There was a collection of groans from the assembled people, along with several comments about how terrible his joke was. The animorph just laughed at them.

"If I win, Beast Boy tells no jokes for a month." Aqualad said firmly. "As for Cyborg…you have to change all your blue inserts to bright pink for a month!"

Cyborg and Beast Boy looked down at Cy's arm, specifically at the section of blue glassteel that covered wiring underneath. Changing that to pink wouldn't be easy, but it was doable.

"Hmm…" Cy said thoughtfully. "Okay. But if I win, you gotta…clean BB's room _without_ a hazmat suit."

"And if _I_ win you gotta take-" Beast Boy hesitated. He had almost said _take Raven out on a date_ on a whim. True, it wasn't a punishment…but he honestly couldn't think of anything to make Aqualad do. Not to mention that Raven said that _she_ wanted to ask the dude out, not the other way around. That was assuming that it was Aqualad that she wanted.

He pondered his predicament.

 _Dude, why am I drawing a blank on this? It's the perfect chance to get some juicy blackmail on Raven's future boyfriend! I could totally use this to get out of trouble with Raven a few times. Well, maybe two times. Okay, it'd prolly just be one time, but that's better than nothin'._

 _Hold on, Raven hasn't even yelled at me in a while._

 _Dang it, that won't work either. So…I guess an IOU? Yeah, I'll think of something later._

"If I win, you owe me one." Beast Boy a moment later. Aqualad and Cyborg raised their eyebrows.

The former because that didn't sound bad.

The latter because that was _bad_ in so many ways.

"Deal." Aqualad said before Cyborg could stop him. The older teen facepalmed so hard that Beast Boy winced from the sound of metal hitting flesh.

Beast Boy chuckled. "Go get yer candy dude and we'll start."

Turns out that Aqualad _can_ eat a crapton of Swedish Fish gummies. So much so that he was still going when Cyborg fell out of his chair groaning and clutching his stomach. So much so that he was still going when Beast Boy paused to let his jaw rest.

Fortunately for Beast Boy, this was about the time the Atlantean got up and dashed for the trashcan.

"Lovely." Raven said sarcastically as the sounds of vomiting filled the air.

"This is worse than the first time we met Control Freak in the video rental store." Cyborg groaned as he rolled across the floor. "Make it stoooooooop!"

"We'll, I guess that makes Beast Boy the winner." Robin grinned then frowned. "Wait, why aren't _you_ sick BB?"

"Dude, do you know how much candy I eat a day?" Beast Boy chuckled. "This was nothing!"

 _Truthfully_ , Beast Boy was about fifteen seconds away from joining Aqualad at the trashcan. He had eaten _way_ more candy than he usually did. The only reason he had won was because he _hadn't_ eaten nearly as much candy as the other two had, which was weird because he _had_ clearly eaten just as much of it as they had. It almost felt like a chunk of each handful had disappeared the moment it reached his mouth. A really weird thing to happen, but he wasn't going to complain.

"Fair enough." Robin chuckled back. He then looked to the two losers of the match. "Looks like you're cleaning Beast Boy's room, Cyborg. And Aqualad, you owe Beast Boy one, which I can say from personal experience is _not_ a pleasant thing."

"Its not?!" The Atlantean asked warily from beside the vomit filled trash. Cyborg, upon hearing of his loss, began sobbing.

"Are you boys done being idiots?"

Beast Boy glanced at Raven, who had silently approached from the kitchen. She eyed the remaining candy disdainfully before something caught her eye. She tentatively reached out and grabbed something, which Beast Boy would see to be a green lollipop. She glanced back at him as she unwrapped it and popped it into her mouth.

"I didn't know you like candy, Rae." He said with a slight grin.

"Only the green ones." Raven said as she sucked on her candy, giving him a strange look.

"I like the grape flavored ones, even though they don't taste like grapes." Beast Boy laughed. Then he had a thought. "Oh, totes sorry about running off like that. You know I can't resist a challenge from Cy though. What were you saying before?"

With a glare from the empath, the crowd instantly dispersed. Most went back to what they were doing before, although Cyborg simply rolled away clutching his stomach. Raven popped the candy out of her mouth, licked her lips clean of the sweet treat, and started to speak. "You said I should ask that guy out, right?"

"Right!"

"Yeah, so…would you-"

"Friends! We have returned from the store of grocery!" Starfire's voice suddenly called out. Both teens (one of them looking annoyed) turned to see Starfire floating into the room, her arms piled high with groceries. Behind her was Red Star, also laden down. Bumblebee was even further behind, carrying a few cases of soda.

"Lightning, Killowatt, KF, y'all are the fastest, so y'all unload the car of everything else!" Bee called out. In an instant all three boys bolted, racing to the T-Car (Kid Flash would win the trip there and the trip back). "Mas, Minos, don't-"

But it was too late.

The Guatemalan twins raced right up to Starfire, speaking rapidly in their native language. The alien princess, who could hear them but not see them, tripped right over them in mid flight. With an 'Eeep' she toppled forward, groceries going everywhere.

 _Fortunately_ , she was in a room full of super powered teenagers.

The reactions were instantaneous, with all sorts of hero's catching food in all sorts of ways. Beast Boy leapt forward and caught a carton of eggs, Raven telekinetically caught several bags of fruit, Robin did some flips and caught boxes of cereal, Cyborg (still on the floor) kicked a table beneath a bag of boxed dinners, Herald opened a portal beneath several jugs of milk and dropped them onto the couch, and Speedy used a sticky arrow to catch several bags and plaster them to the ceiling.

That wasn't all that happened, of course, but that's what Beast Boy could see from his new position on the floor. He could hear the others scrambling about catching more stuff and several people yelling at the twins.

"Are you comfortable?" A gravely voice said about him. He twisted his neck around to find Raven standing above him, sucker still in her mouth and food floating around her.

"Aw, you know me, Rae, I just love-" Beast Boy paused long enough to shift into a large predatory cat and then back to himself, " _Lion_ around!"

Raven stared at him for a moment before she rolled her eyes with a small grin. Beast Boy couldn't help but stare after her as she turned back to the kitchen proper.

 _Did she really think that was funny?_ He pondered as he sat up with eggs in hand. _That was one of my lamest jokes but I got a grin out of her over it. What's up with that?_

"Alright, this is how we're going to do this." Raven suddenly called out, grabbing his and everyone else's attention. "You lot are going to put the groceries away, the exceptions being Starfire, Red Star, and Bumblebee because they actually went and got the food. Kid Flash, Lightning, and Killowatt are also excused because they emptied the car out and got here while we were all playing Hot Potato. Kole and Gnark are also excused."

"Why the heck do we have to help?" Jinx asked indignantly.

"Because I said so." Raven shot back. "Most of this food is here to feed you and Cyborg will be the one cooking it all, so the least you can do is put the groceries away."

"Who made you queen of this castle?" Jinx spat. "Last time I checked, _Robin_ was leading this group!"

Raven, along with everyone else, turned to look at the boy wonder. He was quietly unbagging some cans and placing them in the correct cabinets above the counters.

" _Seriously_ , Rob?" The witch huffed in annoyance.

Robin paused long enough to glance over his shoulder. "In this tower, we _all_ do the chores."

Jinx turned back to find Raven grinning smugly at her. With a scowl, Jinx stomped into the kitchen.

Beast Boy didn't see what the problem was. To him, the sooner the food was put away, the sooner they could get back to doing whatever they were doing. It wasn't a big deal and it never had been for him. After watching the others shuffle into the kitchen, he turned and grabbed a bag. Peering inside, he found some boxes and cans. He stepped over to a cabinet and started unloading the bag onto the counter.

"I'm still not very comfortable with her here."

Beast Boy looked up to find Raven sitting a bag down next to him. She had an annoyed look on her face as she pulled a can of sweet corn out and put it on the shelf.

"Jinx?" He asked, just to make sure.

"Yes." She replied. "I mean, I know Kid Flash talked her into changing sides, but that doesn't mean I'm going to trust her right away."

"I guess that's kinda fair. We trusted Terra too easily and _everybody_ knows how badly that ended." Beast Boy chuckled. When he was met with silence, he glanced over at Raven, who was staring at him in surprise. He raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Nothing." Raven said carefully. "I just didn't expect you to talk about her so easily."

He shrugged. "We messed up by not trying harder with her. _I_ messed up by not trying harder. She's gone and there's nothing I can do about it, so why cry over spilt milk?"

A long and quiet few minutes passed before them as Raven contemplated an answer. It didn't bother Beast Boy. He had long since accepted it. He didn't really have a choice in the matter.

"So…you're over her?"

Beast Boy looked at his friend for a moment. Her face was blank, utterly devoid of emotion, as she placed boxes of skillet dinners. He turned back to his own bag and grabbed the last couple of cans, scalloped potatoes and kidney beans, and set them in the cabinet before him. He crunched up the bag and tossed it towards the trash. Seeing as he was _terrible_ at sports, it missed completely. Fortunately, it became encased in a black aura and floated towards the trashcan. He let out a small chuckle as he watched it, thinking over Raven's question.

By the time Raven had finished her own bag and telekinetically deposited it in the rapidly filling trash, Beast Boy had an answer.

"Yeah."

Despite the fact that he was actively watching the other Titans, he saw out of the corner of his eye that Raven had turned to stare at him. If he had to guess, she was reading his emotions to see if he was being truthful. He was, of course. Lying about a prank is one thing, something like this is another.

"That's good to hear." She said softly.

He turned his head to find her _smiling_ at him. He raised an eyebrow. "You think so?"

"Yes." She nodded before reaching up and lowering her hood. His eyebrow rose higher. Raven _rarely_ lowered her hood. What's up with her today?

"Why's that Rae?" He asked, his curiosity growing.

"Because that means the odds are stacked in my favor."

Beset Boy's curiosity turned into confusion. "Huh?"

Raven took a deep breath. "Beast Boy, would you-"

"Yo BB!"

Beast Boy and Raven turned to find Cyborg some feet away, melon in hand and arm cocked back.

"Go long!" Cy shouted.

Beast Boy reacted instantly, leaping back and morphing into a monkey that scrambled up and over peoples heads. Cyborg launched the melon like it was a football, sending it flying across the room. Despite his mad dash to catch the flying fruit, Beast Boy could have sworn he heard Raven say _are you fucking serious_ , but he had no idea what she could have been mad about. Him and Cy were always tossing the stankball around, a melon wasn't much different. The melon rocketed through the air, soaring over peoples heads.

Beast Boy _streeeeeeeetched_ …

And caught it!

Of course, the force of the fruit sent him ass over end in the air. His simian formed flipped several times, his little body wrapped around the melon. Knowing that the wall was approaching fast, he shifted into a bear and smashed into it. He slid down the wall, dizzy but unhurt. The sound of many feet approaching him made him look up to find a dozen of the guy Titans running towards him.

"Aw carp." He muttered as Aqualad and Herald jumped at him.

Still slightly dizzy, he charged his opponents, barreling right through them and into Thunder. They were roughly the same size, but Beast Boy had the advantage of momentum so he bowled the oriental teen over within seconds. Red Star was upset next and he knew there was no knocking this guy over. With Aqualad and Herald coming back for seconds, he had to think fast about his next move. He launched the melon up and over the Russian, morphed into a jackrabbit, and dashed between the startled guys legs. On the other side he shifted into a kangaroo and leapt up to grab the melon once more. He heard a loud thud as his three opponents behind him collided.

He was immediately tackled by _Pantha_ , of all people.

"I have you now, Beast Boy!" She yelled victoriously. Beast Boy, temporarily trapped beneath her, cursed himself for not paying attention again. When the weight of the heroine suddenly disappeared, he was confused.

Rightfully so, seeing as she had been flung to the side by some unseen forced.

Not looking a gift horse in the mouth, he sprung up and dashed forward once more. Robin was in his way this time, arms open and ready for whatever Beast Boy was planning. Beast Boy grinned and shifted into a fly. The melon went with him, of course, disappearing into the unknown like everything else did when he shifted. He zipped around the surprised boy wonder, gleefully cackling to himself in his mind. When he was in the clear he shifted back to himself and was promptly tackled by Aqualad and Herald, who had come through a portal. Before he could escape them, there were multiple yells as several more people piled on top. Beast Boy suddenly felt the weight on him increase dramatically as Red Star, Pantha, Cyborg, Robin, Speedy, and Thunder all joined in the dog pile. Someone tried to take the melon from him and he bit the hand reaching for it. The owner yelped and the hand withdrew.

It was in the midst of this scramble, Beast Boy noticed that there was a pair of blue booties (it was the only way he could describe her shoes) only a couple of feet away from him. He followed the feet up a pair of shapely legs (not that he would _ever_ tell her that she had nice legs), up and across her nicer thighs (again, something he would _never_ tell her; he liked living), up her nicely and flat belly, and across her _very_ nice breasts (yet another thing he'd never bring up to her). His gaze settled on Raven's scowling face and he smiled meekly at her, hoping she hadn't noticed him checking her out.

It wasn't the first time he'd done it and most certainly wouldn't be the last. Raven was _hot_ and whatever guy she wanted was lucky beyond relief. Beast Boy could only _dream_ that a hot girl like Raven might one day take an interest in him.

"And just _what_ is the purpose of this game?" She growled.

All the boys stopped moving, looking up at her with a unanimous _Uhhhhhhhhh._

"You're all _idiots_." She sighed in aggravation. With a wave of her hand the melon, still in Beast Boy's arms, became encased in her magic and phased straight through him. It floated out of the pile of people and landed in her open hand. Shaking her head, she turned and picked up another melon on the counter behind her, intent on putting them in the refrigerator.

"Nice melons, Rae."

Beast Boy gasped and slapped a hand over his mouth. He did _not_ just make that joke. There was a chorus of gasps above him before the weight on top suddenly began to decrease. The other Titans scrambled away from him, knowing just how bad things were about to get. Beast Boy himself covered his head, waiting for whatever was to come. That was one joke he had taken too far, much like the oil balloon prank from years ago.

The only thing that he heard was the soft shuffle of Raven's feet across the floor.

He peeked up to find her kneeling in front of him. She was looking down at him, melons in hand.

"I personally have no interest in melons, but I would imagine that these I have here before you are nice and juicy." She murmured with a slight smile. "You'll have to try them one day and tell me what you think."

"Uuhhh….okay?" Beast Boy said in confusion. What the heck was she talking about? Did she not get his joke at all?

Raven stared at him for a moment before she frowned. "Beast Boy-"

"Soooo…you're not gonna kill him?"

Beast Boy and Raven looked up to find that Cyborg had returned, albeit at a respectable distance. He looked nervous and ready to flee if things went south. Raven sighed and stood up.

"No, I'm not going to kill him." She snapped. "But _you_ might not be so lucky ."

Cyborg raised an eyebrow and looked at Beast Boy, who shrugged.

 _Why would she wanna hurt Cy?_ Beast Boy wondered to himself as he got off the floor. _Girls are so weird._


	3. Chapter 3

_**Hello my lovely readers! I'm so happy you lot are enjoying this little project of mine. Its easing some of my stress to write this and I love your reviews. I mean that, y'all are fucking hilarious lol. Especially Rckt, that joke you made...imma steal it soon. I hope you all like this chapter too, the end is a little spicey!**_

* * *

"Okay…now what?"

Beast Boy looked at Cyborg, who was sitting at the far end of the couch with him. The rest of said furniture was filled with Titans who were cheering and shouting about the game that was being played. They hadn't even gotten a chance to play in the hour that had passed, the line was so long.

"I have _no_ idea dude." Beast Boy sighed. He longingly looked at the gamestation, knowing that the chances of him getting to play were nonexistent at this point. The game he got a week ago and hadn't gotten to play, Super Monkey Bros Smash Edition, had been quite thoroughly been beaten and mauled in the storyline. Now he knew why Mink and Monkyo were fighting against Monkser and MetaMonkey while fighting off Captain Monkey and Solid Monkey. On top of that he had learned why Monkigi was looking for the Ice Monkeys, who had apparently been monkey napped by the nefarious King Mojo JoJo.

"We'll I'm bored as all get out." Cy huffed.

"We could go to the arcade."

Cy shook his head. "Nah, we spent enough today at the grocery store."

"Stankball?"

"We only have _one_ stankball and more than twenty people here. We'd never even see the ball, let alone get anyone with it. And its too dangerous to make another one, I barely survived the first time we did it."

Beast Boy sighed again. "Then I dunno what to tell ya dude."

His best friend sighed in aggravation as he propped his head on his arm. There was a sullen silence that fell between the two as Cyborg pouted and Beast Boy continued to watch the others play.

"You two look bored."

Both teens looked turned around to find Raven leaning against the back of the couch. She looked kind of bored too, but that was a kinda normal look for her if she didn't have a book in hand. At least she wasn't looking at him funny while sucking on a lollipop anymore.

"Yup." Cyborg replied.

Beast Boy nodded. "Not much to do."

Raven's eyes lit up and she gave him a tiny smile. "Well then, Beast Boy, we could always-"

"YOU GUYS HAVE A POOL?!" Someone shouted.

Beast Boy saw Raven scowl as they all turned to look at the common room door. Jinx was standing there, soaking wet, with a disbelieving look on her face and her twin hair-horn things flopping against her back. Kid Flash appeared behind her, a sheepish look on his face.

"We kinda fell in." He chuckled. Beast Boy snorted. _Fell in? Yeah right._

"Pool?" Several people asked, looking away from the television. Like most teens, they loved swimming.

"Its not really a _pool_ , per say." Robin said loudly enough to catch everyone's attention. "It's used for underwater training simulations. Its full of pressure plates that trigger all sorts of traps."

There was a chorus of _awwwwwww_ 's that filled the air, though Beast Boy heard Raven snort.

"Might as well be a pool." She muttered. "We hardly ever use it."

"You just don't like it because Robin won't let you take books in there." Beast Boy snickered. Raven glanced at him with a half-hearted glare.

"That's not the point." She replied with a hint of annoyance.

"Then what _is_?" Cy teased.

"Robin could turn off the traps to let all of them go swim in it." Raven replied. "You two could monopolize the game after that and I could get some peace and quiet for a while."

"Peace and quiet with us gaming right there?" Beast Boy asked in confusion. "I thought you _hated_ how noisy we were?"

"I don't mind if it's you." Raven murmured, turning her head away from him. He could have sworn there was a light blush on her face, but that's just crazy. What did she have to blush about?

"That's still a really good idea though." Cyborg suddenly said. Raven and Beast Boy looked at him and he grinned. "We live on an _island surrounded by water._ There's no reason we can't swim out there!"

Beast Boy thought about a moment before a huge grin broke out on his face. " _Dude_ , That's a great idea! Get Rob to set it up!"

"How the heck am I gonna do that? Rob don't like swimming cause then he can't use his gadgets if he needs them."

"Let _me_ deal with that." Raven interrupted. Before either boy could say anything she walked off towards the group of girl Titans. The two boys traded glances before they heard a squeal that could only belong to Starfire. The alien princess suddenly bolted over to Robin and began earnestly speaking to him. Robin, who had been watching the game, suddenly found himself overwhelmed by the overenthusiastic Starfire.

Within thirty seconds he stood up.

"Titans." He called out over the din. When everyone looked up at him, he continued. "I've decided that we're going to do a group activity. We're going to the sandy, beach-like area of the island to go swimming!"

There was a hushed silence for a moment before the assembled teens cheered out in approval. Beast Boy had to cover his ears from all the noise, it was so loud. They began excitedly talking to each other, the girls discussing their swimwear and the boys (secretly) talking about oogling the girls.

"That was easier than I thought." Raven said, reappearing next to Beast Boy and Cyborg with a smug look on her face.

"What'd you do?" Cyborg asked in awe.

"I told Starfire that she should show Robin the new swimsuit she bought last month. When she asked when she should do that, I told her that if everyone went swimming today that she could show him."

Both boys stared at her in awe now.

"That's so _evil_." Beast Boy muttered.

"Remind me to never get on her bad side." Cy muttered back.

"Peace and quiet, here I come." Raven said with a small and relieved smile, not having heard the boys.

"I don't think so Raven." Robin said, seemingly appearing from nowhere. Beast Boy and Cyborg nearly jumped out of their skins, but Raven was unfazed by everything except what he said.

"Excuse me?" She said, raising an eyebrow.

"This is a _group_ activity. That means _everyone_ is going." The boy wonder said smugly.

"Robin, you know I don't like swimming. And neither do _you_ , for that matter." Raven practically growled.

"If I have to go then you three have to go." Robin said firmly.

"Dude, you don't _have_ to go." Beast Boy grinned mischievously. "You just wanna oogle Star."

Robin turned a bright shade of red and shook his head. "I do not!"

Beast Boy started laughing. "Dude, don't even try t-"

"This is bullcrap, Robin." Raven interrupted. All the boys raised an eyebrow at her and she scowled. " I am _not_ going into town to buy a bathing suit to wear _once_. It's a waste of time and money!"

"You don't have to. Borrow one of Starfire's, she has a closet full of them that the rest of the girls are borrowing." Robin snapped before stomping away. Apparently Beast Boy's joke made him a _little_ angry.

"Yo Rob, hold up!" Cyborg shouted as he hopped up and gave chase to his team leader. " You seriously gonna make me go seal all my joints just for a couple of hours in the water?"

Raven made an aggravated noise before she reached up and raised her hood once more. Beast Boy watched her brood underneath her hood for a moment before he spoke up.

"What's wrong Rae?"

She glanced at him. "I don't like swimming."

Beast Boy pondered this. He did already know that, but he didn't know _why_. It had never occurred to him before to ask (mostly because he didn't want to get yelled at) but since she had been nicer to him lately…

"Why?" He asked, making sure to not make it sound like he was teasing her.

Raven looked away and he noticed her shift beneath her cloak. It was a few minutes before she spoke (Beast Boy didn't mind waiting, there were too many people running in and out of the room for him to go change).

"I'm not…exactly the swimsuit type."

Beast Boy stared at her in confusion. "Huh?"

She sighed in irritation once more and held a hand out. "Beast Boy, I'm pale to the point of being borderline grey. And despite being half demon, I sunburn _easily_."

"Uh, to be honest, Rae, Jinx and Argent are pretty close to your skin tone and nobody bats an eyelash at them. Heck, Jinx almost looks like a skeleton, she's so skinny and pale." He chuckled. "And we have suntan lotion."

Raven shook her head and turned away from him, towards the nearby window. "You don't understand, Beast Boy. I…don't looked good in swimwear. Especially not when compared to someone like Starfire."

Beast Boy stared at Raven's back, not sure if he heard her correctly over the din of ecstatic teenagers. Raven had body image issues? Where the hell did that come from?!

"Raven." He said slowly. "If….you don't think you look good, how did you expect to get that guy?"

"Confidence, perseverance, and willingness to work through our differences to make a relationship work." She said without turning around.

Beast Boy could _not_ believe what he was hearing. "Dude, seriously?"

She nodded. "Yes. I am well aware that I'm not particularly blessed in the looks department, what with grey skin, violet hair and eyes, and a gravely voice, especially since I know that he's into leggy blondes more than anything. It's only logical that I use my mentality and emotional spectrum to make up for what I lack."

 _Aqualad's into blondes? Didn't know that._ Beast Boy thought to himself as he shook his head. "Dude, that's crazy thinking."

Raven finally turned and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Is it?"

"Uh huh, and I'll tell ya why too." _Time to take a chance._ Beast Boy thought to himself. _Hope I don't screw this up_.

"Why then?"

"Because you're a really pretty girl, Raven."

To Beast Boy, Raven looked like she had just been slapped; her eyes were huge with shock and her mouth was opened slightly. He couldn't help but to chuckle at the sight.

"Told ya it was crazy, Rae. I mean, seriously dude, you _are_ a really pretty girl. You wanna talk about your skin color? Nothing to say after I pointed out Jinx and Argent, not to mention most of those kids that go to your little poetry jams are pretty pale too. You guys just need a little bit of sun. Not a lot, just a little. And you wanna complain about your hair? I don't see the problem. If your dude is into blondes, then I need to take him on a walk around Jump City. Blonde chicks are a dime a two dozen here. Honestly? I'm kinda tired of looking at them. Its like looking at the same field of dandelions every day. Your hair is pretty nice when compared to the average girl around here. It's…what a good word…oh, _unique!_ And I don't think there's anything wrong with your voice either. Honestly Rae, there are days where I'd give my gamestation for Star's voice to deepen just a little, so that her squeals don't make my ears bleed. So…there's nothing wrong with you at all, Raven. You're…different, and that's a good thing."

If there was one thing Beast Boy really hated in this world, it was being serious. He was surrounded by too many people that took everything too seriously and he most certainly did not want to be like that. He loved laughter, loved jokes, loved having fun. It was who he was and it would always be that way.

But just this once, for Raven, he had been very serious. She _needed_ to know that she was an attractive girl. To hear her say those things about herself…well, it just felt _wrong_. Like putting pineapple on pizza wrong. No, maybe worse. Yeah, _definitely_ worse. He had no idea where she got the idea that she wasn't attractive and he wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to know. Chances are he'd beat the crap out of whatever guy had said that about her.

 _No one_ badmouths his friends.

"You…think I'm pretty?"

Beast Boy was jerked from his thoughts by the sound of Raven's small, disbelieving voice. It almost looked like she wanted to cry, but over what, he wasn't entirely sure. This _couldn't_ have been the first time she was complimented.

Right?

"Yeah, Rae, I do." He said slowly. "And I think that if you put on a bathing suit, you _will_ catch this guy's eye. He'd have to be blind to not see ya. And when he _does_ , he's gonna forget how to talk."

Raven's mouth opened and closed several times before she abruptly turned away from him again. He heard her take several deep breaths, ending each one in a quick chant of her…uh…whatever it was called.

 _Maybe that WAS the first time she's been complimented?_ Beast Boy thought to himself. _I mean, I know guys are always checkin' Star out and sweet talking her, but I can't believe that no one would flirt with Raven!_

Without warning Raven turned once more, though this time she turned past him and started walking away. After she took a few steps, however, she paused.

"D-d-d-don't-" She stammered for a moment before taking another deep breath to steady herself. Beast Boy stared at the back of her hooded head, wondering if she was okay.

"Don't go anywhere." She said a moment later. "I'm going to… borrow a swimsuit."

"Uhhhh…okay?" Beast Boy replied, not sure of what else to say. What would it matter to him if she went and changed? Aqualad was on the other side of the room, wearing a Speedo and being oogled by girls.

He shrugged to himself, knowing that asking questions about his strange friend was pointless. Said strange friend had made her say over to Starfire, who was now clad in a rather revealing purple string bikini, standing next to Bumblebee, who was wearing a yellow bikini. Raven quietly spoke to Star, asking the alien girl if she had a swimsuit that she could borrow. Starfire stared at her dumbfounded for a moment before a massive smile split across her face. She grabbed Raven's hand and drug her out of the room, leaving an amused Bumblebee behind.

Beast Boy chuckled to himself. It was good to see that Raven was really coming out of her shell now. She deserved to be happy, like, _really_ deserved it. He knew that each of the core Titans had been through a lot, but Raven topped them all in the bad life department. To see finally see her happy and smiling? Well…

 _Feels good, man._ He hummed cheerfully to himself. _Now I just gotta get her hooked up with Aqualad. Them maybe I can find me a cute girl somewhere._

He gazed over at the group of girls, all in their bikinis now. Starfire easily dominated the group when it came to looks, but Beast Boy just couldn't see her as dating material. She was too much like a sister to him.

Bumblebee looked pretty good, but she was kinda aggro in a tsundere kinda way. It wasn't bad, but he preferred his girls on the sweet and bubbly side.

Speaking of sweet and bubbly, Kole was kinda cute. But that was all she had going for her, at least to him.

Jinx…yeah, just no.

Argent had a really neat accent, but she was kinda crazy from what he had heard. Seeing as he'd had enough crazy to deal with already, he pushed that thought to the side.

Pantha…. _hell no_. Big burly women were definitely a no go in his book. She could probably bench press Cy.

They were all great girls in their own way, but not the way he wanted. He wanted a girl that would play video games with him or at least watch him play. He wanted a girl that would read comics with him too, though of she read other stuff that was okay too. A girl that thought he was funny, even if it was just a little bit, would be nice. It's be nice if she was a vegetarian too, that way he wouldn't have to kiss her after she ate meat.

But most of all, he wanted a girl that didn't lie to him, one that was honest about how she felt and what was going on with her.

 _That_ was what he wanted the most.

" _Holy shit!"_ Someone exclaimed. Beast Boy was brought back to reality by this and he scowled. His mind had been wandering again and twenty minutes had passed. It looked like most of the people had already changed, so now was his time to go change. He got up from the couch and made his way around Killowatt and Lightning, past Thunder, Herald, and Bushido, and through the kitchen. He grabbed an apple to munch on, knowing its be a good idea to get a snack while he could. He took a big bite, savoring the way it crunched and how juicy it was.

"Beast Boy?"

The animorph in question turned to see who called him. And then he choked on his apple.

It was Raven, wearing a _bikini_.

Beast Boy had always thought Raven was hot, even though he hadn't ever seen much of her figure. What he had seen he had liked. But now?

 _Holy shit._

Raven was _curvy_ , but still had a kind of hourglass shape to her. The long pale legs he had seen, yeah, but she had some damn fine hips that swayed back and forth as she walked towards him. Her stomach was almost flat, but he could see just a little judge on her, just below her belly button. It was oddly sexy. The bikini bottom she was wearing was black with several purple hearts trailing up the curve of her inner thigh. The fabric itself couldn't have been as wide as his palm, so it left little to the imagination. Behind her, Beast Boy saw Speedy lift his mask up over his face as he oogled Raven's butt.

 _Dat ass_. The archer mouthed. Beast Boy, who couldn't see said rear, ignored him.

Going upwards, he found that Raven's boobs were _barely_ covered by her bikini top, which was also black with several purple hearts. If she twisted wrong, she'd definitely pop out.

He gulped.

 _Don't look at her boobs._

And she stopped right in front of him.

"So…" Raven said shyly. "What do you think?"

 _Don't look at her boobs._

"It looks great on you. Honest." Beast Boy said nervously, hoping she didn't notice him checking her out again.

She brightened immediately. "Really?"

 _Don't look at her boobs._

He nodded, probably a little too enthusiastically. " _Totally_."

Raven smiled at him as she reached up to brush some hair behind her ear. "Thank Azar, I was worried it was too revealing."

 _Don't look at her boobs._

"Nah, it looks great on you Rae." He said nonchalantly as he looked away from her. It was _totally_ too revealing on her. His mind was dangerously close to falling in the gutter. He heard her sharp intake of breath and he couldn't help but glance at her.

She was…puffing her chest out? Why would she do that? Her boobs were already very noticeable…oh wait, Aqualad must be looking this way. That makes more sense now.

"Um…Beast Boy? My eyes are actually up here."

He tore his gaze from her body and back up to her face. He couldn't help but to blush. "Sorry."

He _thought_ she would get mad, but she just gave him a little evil smile. "It's fine. You can apologize to me another way."

Beast Boy took a step back, instantly wary. "H-how's that?"

Her eyes took on a glint that he had never seen before. " _You can help me with the suntan lotion_."

"Oh, is that all?" Beast Boy sighed in relief. "That's fine."

"Yes…it is. Now go change." Raven murmured before turning for the door. Beast Boy them noticed that everyone else was practically running out.

"Yeah yeah okay, gimme a minute." He chuckled.

Of course, as he followed Raven from the room he just happened to notice something swaying from side to side right in front of him. He gulped again.

Speedy was right.

Raven had a one _hellavu_ booty on her.


	4. Chapter 4

**_Hello my dear readers, Foamy here! Man, writing this makes me laugh, which is a good thing considering that I don't actually have much to laugh about these days. Anyways, I'm very happy you all like it, its a hoot to write and your reviews crack me up. I'm also honored to have TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne reviewing too. I have some very serious respect for your writing and I hope one day I can match your talent._**

 ** _Until then, I'm going to keep on with my silly stories lol._**

 ** _Now, I've recently noticed a number of grammatical errors in this story and I want you to know that its not entirely my fault. My Microsoft Word spell check isn't catching them and as such, neither was I. I'll be keeping a closer eye on that from now on._**

 _ **Also, to those of you wondering why this is in the M section, you're fixing to find out. *chuckles* enjoy!**_

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 _Shit shit shit shit!_ Beast Boy thought in a panic as he scrambled to clean himself up. _Raven's coming back!_

It wasn't that her returning to his room to get him was necessarily a bad thing. He actually thought it was kinda nice for her to do that, to willingly walk with him down to the water. He hardly ever spent time with her, so even something as simple of this made him happy.

The problem was it was a _bikini clad Raven_ that was coming to get him.

The entire walk to his room he had been completely and totally unable to pull his eyes from her amazing ass. He didn't think it was _big_ but it had some size to it that drew his eyes to it like a moth to flame, not to mention that her swaying hips moved in such a way that was downright _hypnotic_. He had felt a deep and powerful desire to smack her ass, which probably would have gotten him killed. A song came to mind while he stared at it, "Booty had me like".

It was _terribly_ accurate.

With that being said, it was only _natural_ for him to need to relieve himself after she left him in his room whilst she retrieved more suntan lotion from the medbay. That had been about ten minutes ago.

But _now_ he could hear her returning and he had to clean up his little session before she got here. This was something she did _not_ need to know about. He shuddered, thinking of how furious she would be. She'd probably yell at him for being a sicko and drop him in another dimension forever. He didn't consider himself a pervert per say, but he _did_ have needs that only he could take care of. He didn't think he was in the wrong for entertaining himself, but Raven probably wouldn't see it that way.

After all, it wasn't _his_ fault that Raven was so damned hot.

He got himself wiped off and stashed his impromptu towel deep in a pile of dirty clothes, briefly wondering when he had stashed a pile of candy in a shirt next to the pile. Not recalling the incident in question, he shrugged and put his swimming trunks on. Raven had never entered his room (and probably never would), so that place was safe to hide the evidence. Now he just had to calm himself down, to stop thinking of that magnificent booty rubbing up against him-

He looked down and cursed himself. _DAMNIT! DOWN BOY, DOWN!_

There was a knock on his door. "Beast Boy? Are you dressed?"

He hesitated. "Yeah…just give me a moment to…find a towel."

"Sweet Azar, this might take a while." She mumbled under her breath, though Beast Boy still heard her through the closed door. He chuckled to himself despite his predicament. He already had a good, clean towel sitting on his bed.

Beast Boy leaned against his dresser and took a deep, calming breath. The sooner his boner went away the better. Deep breath, clean thoughts, deep breath, clean thoughts….

"Beast Boy? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm coming!" He replied before pausing to laugh at his own joke. He snatched up his towel and headed for the door, feeling better now that Raven would have no idea of what he did.

The door opened and revealed a mildly suspicious Raven. Her eyebrow was raised and her arms were crossed.

"What's so funny?" She asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Nothing!" He said quickly. "I just thought of a really good prank."

It wasn't _entirely_ a lie. He'd always wanted to go all _Jaws_ on someone, to scare them out of their wits just like the classic movies did. Since this was the perfect time to do so, he was totally gonna do it.

"Peachy." Raven rolled her eyes. "Leave me out of it."

Beast Boy laughed again. "Sure, just don't tell anyone. _Especially_ Cy."

"Okay."

He raised an eyebrow, totally off guard. "Really? You usually fuss at me for pranks."

Raven merely shrugged with a faint smile and started walking away in the direction of the elevator. "Maybe I've just gotten used to your silliness."

Beast Boy raised an eyebrow. _That_ wasn't the answer he was expecting. Man, she must be in a _really_ good mood. He hummed as a response to her and strode after his friend. With his desire sated, it was _a lot_ easier to follow her down to the beach. Granted, his eyes remained glued to her fine ass the whole time, but that wasn't the point.

The trip itself was bland, with Raven not speaking (probably lost in thought about Aqualad) and Beast Boy too hypnotized with the sway of those sexy hips to crack jokes.

But as they reached the bottom floor, Beast Boy paused as he had an interesting thought.

 _Maybe_ _ **that's**_ _what I need. A curvy girl like Rae._ He mused. _I've been into skinny blonde chicks for a long time, maybe it's time to change things up a little. I mean, Terra was nice, but she was flat as a board too. Not that that was a bad thing, but still…_

He couldn't help but to grin as another thought struck him. _Maybe I can find a curvy_ _ **nerdy**_ _girl! One that reads comics or maybe fantasy and sci-fi books! I've got a bunch of fantasy games and space games, so there's bound to be_ _ **something**_ _we can talk about! Yeah, that would be an awesome start! I'm totally gonna hit up Jack's tomorrow! Dude, why didn't I think of this before? I'm such a dummy._

It was a pretty sweet line of thinking and he was proud of himself for it.

"Come along Beast Boy." He heard Raven say. He glanced up from his splendiferous view to find her walking out the front door of the tower. In her left hand was a book, which his sharp eyes read as Harry Potter. He hummed to himself again. Those were pretty good movies, but he had never read the books. They had to pretty good too if Raven was reading them, but he had no idea that she liked fantasy. He always thought she read horror and mystery.

 _I'm learning all kinds of things about her today, aren't I?_ He chuckled as he jogged to catch up to her. _Guess I should pay a little more attention._

"Hey Beast Boy, cool shorts."

The aforementioned boy glanced over his shoulder to find Kole and Argent coming up behind him, smiles on their faces. He wasn't sure how he hadn't noticed them behind him before, bit then again he _had_ been lost in thought. He smiled back, knowing that his blue/black swimming trunks with neon green scorpions were indeed awesome. "Thanks! Yours are pretty cool too!"

"You like it?" Kole asked with a small blush and a sweet smile. Her bikini was light blue with dragons on it and a skirt-like part on the bottom half. She did this funny little wiggle thing that reminded him of an excited puppy.

"I don't like dragons very much, but that looks good on you dude, honest." He replied, never breaking his stride. "Say, where's Gnark?"

"He's already at the water, he loves to swim." She replied, taking a small hop over a small boulder to land beside him. Beast Boy took a moment to admire her petite form, but quickly became embarrassed when he saw Argent smirking at him from the other side of the pink haired girl.

"There's better prizes to aim for, ya know." She said, puffing out her chest a bit. Her breasts weren't as big as Raven's (but still bigger than Kole's), but they did look quite nice in her dark red bikini. Her grey skin looked a little silvery now that he saw her up close. Argent was actually kind of pretty like now that he got a good look at her too. Totes not his type, but still pretty.

He heard someone clearing their throat in front of him, so he turned his head to see who it was. It was Raven, of course, and she had stopped and turned to face them. He practically skidded to a halt to avoid from running into her (though he was certain her airbags would have provided a soft landing). For some reason, she looked a little pissed off.

"Do you mind?" She snapped at the other girls.

"Not at all." Argent smirked as she stopped. Kole stopped too, looking back and forth between the girls.

"T-there's no reason to fight." She said nervously, wringing her hands together.

 _Huh, she's kinda cute like that._ Beast Boy thought to himself. _But what's got Rae so mad?_

"I think you should back off." Raven said darkly. Argent's smirk grew.

"Oh really?" The girl sniggered. "Now why would I do that? He's a cute _single_ guy that saved all of us. I think that's worth _rewarding_ him for. We could have some right ol' fun ton-"

Whatever Argent was saying was cut off as Raven appeared right in her face, so close that Beast Boy figured that they were nose to nose. The hot summer air around them suddenly chilled to the point of giving him goosebumps, something that only happened when Raven got so mad that her demonic eyes opened.

" _ **Back. Off."**_ The demoness growled. Argent fearfully stumbled backwards, tripping over a rock and landing on her ass. Kole squeaked in fright and bolted. Beast Boy's jaw dropped in shock.

"Jesus Christ, Raven, I'm sorry!" Argent yelled as she scrambled backwards in the sand away from Raven. "I didn't know!"

"Well now you do." Raven snapped, turning away from the girl and walking away.

 _Didn't know?_ Beast Boy asked himself as he chased after the fuming empath. _Didn't know what? And why did she mutter 'jealousy, check'? Who's she jealous of?_

* * *

"Well? What are you waiting for?"

Beast Boy gulped.

Before him lay Raven, belly down on a towel beneath a large beach umbrella. A number of Titans were about two bus lengths away (Beast Boy could never remember how far yards were, so he always referred to vehicle lengths for anything over ten feet away) playing volleyball while another group of them was running around and splashing each other. He heard a whistle blow and Robin yell at someone for overstepping a boundary. Someone laughed at him and he blew the whistle again, yelling something else.

But that didn't concern Beast Boy right now.

What _did_ concern him was… _sideboob_.

As in, he could see it.

'Cause Raven had untied her top and let the strings fall to the sides.

He gulped again.

 _Pepperoni pizza, monkey bars, nuns on unicycles, car fumes, marshmallows…_ He thought to himself as the popped the top on the suntan lotion. He had to keep his mind **clean** or Raven might kill him. He looked down at Raven's back, noting how small it looked. He probably wouldn't even need a full tube to cover her.

Oh boy, that sounded _dirty._

He squirted a few dollops of lotion on her back (trying his damnedest to not think of the implications of squirting white stuff on Raven), starting at her shoulders and working his way down. When it was done he went to start rubbing it in.

And hesitated.

"What's wrong?" Raven asked, turning her head to look at him curiously.

"You…are you sure you're okay with me touching you?" Beast Boy asked slowly, carefully. "I know you usually don't like to be touched, so I gotta ask…"

"I don't mind if it's you." She murmured, turning away with a small blush.

 _Dude, she trusts me that much? Sweet lick!_ Beast Boy inwardly chuckled as he said, "Alright, well, I'm going to touch you now, so don't freak out dude."

She turned her head back towards him, an odd little smile on her face (but still blushing). "You can touch me as much as you'd like."

"Well, I kinda _gotta_ touch you all over to put this on." He chuckled. He noted that her smile widened a bit as he set about rubbing the lotion into her skin, which was surprisingly soft and smooth. _She must take good care of it_. He thought as he worked his way across her shoulders. It didn't take much longer before he was working his way down her back.

"Uhhh, BB? Whatcha doing man?"

Beast Boy looked up to find that Cyborg had walked up. Judging from the faint scent of silicone in the air, his buddy had indeed sealed his joints to go swimming. He opened his mouth to answer his best friend, but another voice cut him off.

"I was _forced_ to come out here by oh-oblivious-leader over there, so I decided that since Beast Boy owed me one that he would help me with this suntan lotion." Raven glared at her older brother. "Because between you and me, I _don't_ want to look like my father."

Cy blinked in confusion, not entirely sure how to respond. "Uhh….Okaaayy…"

"Good. Now _go away_." Raven said firmly, a hint of irritation in her voice.

Cyborg opened his mouth to respond but then firmly closed it. Sometimes it really was better to just leave Raven alone. He mouthed _good luck_ to Beast Boy and walked off towards the water.

Beast Boy chuckled helplessly to himself. Rubbing lotion on Raven wasn't necessarily a _bad_ thing, nor a _dangerous_ one. She seemed perfectly content in his hands, which made him happy that she trusted him to do it, though he seriously thought Aqualad should be doing this. He wasn't gonna complain though.

When her back was done he sat up and wiped some sweat from his brow. It was a little hot out today, it being midsummer and all. He swept his eyes across her body, wondering if he was supposed to do her legs too.

As if she had heard his thoughts (a _very_ worrying idea), she lifted one leg and wiggled her foot at him. "You missed a spot."

He couldn't help but to snort in amusement and glance at her face. She had an amused smile of her own and it made him shake his head and laugh. It felt so good to see Raven playful and expressive. Now with a wide grin on his face, Beast Boy grabbed the lotion bottle once more and put some on her legs. As he rubbed it in, he noted that she had some strong muscles in her legs. They were nice and firm underneath her smooth skin. It was an interesting feeling.

Of course, the further up he went the less he noted muscles and the more he noted something else.

Like how goosebumps rippled across her skin when he ran his hands across her thighs.

Or how she trembled a little when he rubbed up the insides of her legs to about halfway up her inner thighs. His hands were keeping a respectable distance from her butt and groin, of course, but his mind most certainly wasn't.

When he finished he sat back on his feet and sighed in relief. Kneeling in sand wasn't what he'd call comfortable. Raven lay there for a few minutes, watching the others swim as she waited for the lotion to dry. By the time it had, Beast Boy had scooted closer to her. Not because he was checking her out again (which he did) but because the towel was better for his knees.

When the lotion had dried she slowly turned over and sat up, keeping her bikini top in place with one hand. He offered the bottle to her, which she accepted with a quiet _thank you._ While she applied lotion to her arms, shoulders, and neck, he looked around. He didn't really feel like playing volleyball right now, swimming sounded so much better.

"Don't you need any of this?" Raven asked, drawing his attention back to her. She was applying little amounts of lotion to her face now.

"Nah." He grinned once more. "I don't sunburn at all. Something about being green, ya know?"

Raven shook her head. "It doesn't quite work that way."

He shrugged. "Whatever it is, I'm not complaining."

Her responding hum sounded a little annoyed, but it wasn't his fault. Well, not really. He watched as she lifted the bottle up to squirt some into her palm, evidently moving to her collar and neck area. He politely looked away.

"Oh for Azar's sake." He heard her mutter.

Beast Boy glanced back to see Raven holding the bottle upside down and shaking it. There wasn't any lotion coming out but he knew for a fact that there was at least half of it left. There was obviously a clog and Raven was growing increasingly annoyed with it.

"This is stupid." She grumbled. "This stuff is supposed to come out easily."

"We don't exactly go swimming often, Rae. " Beast Boy said carefully. "So that bottle might be kinda old."

Raven merely rolled her eyes and used her telekinesis to grab the bottle and squeeze.

Which probably wasn't the best idea seeing as it _exploded_ all over her face and chest, covering her in globs of thick white stuff. Beast Boy's hand snapped up and covered his mouth, both to stop himself from laughing out loud at her and to stop the joke about _taking it to the face_.

"Peachy." She deadpanned as she set the bottle down. When she saw his covered face she looked down at herself then back up at him with a sly smile.

"I got it _all_ _over_ _me_ now, don't I?" She asked in a suggestive voice. When Beast Boy choked on his laughter, her smile widened.

Beast Boy had _no_ idea how to respond to that, so he looked away with a blush. He heard Raven laugh and glanced at her to find that she had had started rubbing the lotion in. She was looking down at her chest as she rubbed it across her collar. When she was done there, her hands traveled downward to rub lotion on her breasts. Beast Boy gulped as he watched her rub her boobs, feeling himself getting more than a little turned on at this sight. Granted, she was still covered and he couldn't actually see the entirety of each boob, but the motion was more than enough to get him rock-

Her eyes flicked upward and he looked away as quickly as he could.

He waited for her to yell at him but it never came.

Instead, he heard, "Excitement, check."

 _That_ made him look at her again and his eyes quite nearly popped out of his skull.

Raven was laying on her back now, her left hand resting up on her left breast. The strings to her still-untied bikini dangled down her sides and he was absolutely certain that if she rolled two inches to the right that he'd be able to see her right nipple. She was staring at him, her left eye covered by her hair, and there was a _very_ suggestive smile on her face.

"Would you like to help me put the rest of the lotion on?" She murmured. He watched as her right hand trailed down her side and grasped the string to her bikini bottom. She slowly pulled it out, unraveling the knot and exposing her hip to him.

Unfortunately, Beast Boy's brain had stopped. He simply couldn't understand what was going on in front of him. Raven seemed to notice this though and it made her laugh.

"What's wrong, Beast Boy? Raven got your tongue?" She teased.

Beast Boy opened his mouth to speak. He had to say _something_! If Raven was acting this way, did that mean she actually wanted h-

 **TWACK!**

His world went black.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Hello dear readers, Foamy here! Sorry this chapter is late I had to work out a few kinks in it, which is funny because I'm just making this up as I go along lmao. I also want to say thank you for all the reviews, favs, and follows! I'm still shocked that so many people like this, its just a goofy little side project.**_

 _ **But I'm not complaining :,)**_

 ** _I hope you enjoy this chapter too!_**

 _ **Also, if you haven't noticed I added a new picture for the thumbnail to this story! Its not actually Raven but the resemblance is so ridiculously accurate that I couldnt resist usuing it lol.**_

* * *

"Beast Boy? Friend Beast Boy, please wake up!"

The boy in question groaned and cracked his eyes open. His vision was immediately filled with two blobs in front of a bright light. The blob on the left was white and purple and the blob on the right was red and orange. He literally had _no_ idea what these blobs were and what was going on.

"Friend Beast Boy, you are awake!"

 _Since when do blobs talk?_ He thought to himself as he shook his head, which turned out to be a _really_ bad idea. He became insanely dizzy and it made him nauseated immediately.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. I just finished healing you a few minutes ago."

 _Huh? Since when do blobs heal people?_

 _Wait... Heal?_

Beast Boy forced his eyes open and look at the blobs before him. No, wait, those weren't blobs, they were Raven and Starfire looking down at him. Wait, down? Why was he laying down?

"Welcome back to the world of the living." Raven smiled softly at him for a moment before she glared at Starfire. _"Literally."_

The alien girl wilted and immediately began crying. "I am most sorry! I didn't mean to hit the ball of volleys so hard!"

"Starfire, there are _very_ few super strong people in our ranks and _you_ are the strongest." Raven said icily.

"I know but-"

Raven cut her off. "There are _no_ buts, Starfire. You got _excited_ that Robin was watching you and started showing off. You hit the ball so hard that everyone _dodged_ it rather than taking a chance at serious injury, which didn't matter because it hit Beast Boy so hard _that it snapped his neck!"_

The last words Raven practically shouted at Starfire, which in and of itself was beyond weird. For one, Raven never actually yelled at anyone, she just got a bit louder. Two, she yelled at _Starfire_ , which she had never done before, not even when the fiery haired alien dragged her out shopping against her will.

And last, but most certainly not least to the boy in question, she had yelled about someone injuring _Beast Boy_. He couldn't think of the last time she had done th-

Er, wait. She had threatened to _kill_ Terra once.

Nevermind.

"Hey Raven." Beast Boy mumbled, hoping to catch her attention before she could start on Star again. He succeeded, with her pausing and looking down at him once more.

"Yes Beast Boy?" She said as gently as she could despite her anger.

"It was an accident, so there's no reason to be so mad about it." He nodded at Starfire. " _I'm_ not mad about it. I've hurt myself messing up way more than whatever Star did to me by accident."

"So you've snapped your neck, shattered your jaw, and cracked half your skull before?" Raven deadpanned.

Beast Boy gaped at her. A volleyball did all that to him?

"Didn't think so." Raven sighed and sat back, letting the sun beam down on him. He could now see the other Titans gathered around, worried looks on their faces. He gave them a weak smile and a thumbs up and they all immediately brightened up.

Starfire, however, was still sobbing.

Beast Boy reached up and pat her on the shoulder. Star looked at him and he gave her a thumbs up. She let out a wail and surged forward, her arms outstretched to hug him. She was stopped when she became encased in a black shadowy aura thingy (Beast Boy could never remember what Raven called it).

" _No hugs._ " Raven hissed. "I _just_ healed him, I don't need him breaking any more bones right now, thanks."

Starfire wilted once more but nodded. Before Beast Boy could interject, she floated up and away from them. He didn't see where she went, but he did see the other Titans scatter under Raven's glare. He looked up at her and he could see her trembling. _Man, she must be_ _super_ _pissed._ He thought. _But why? It was obviously an accident…_

"Rae?" He said carefully. "You okay?"

"Yes." She replied immediately before she frowned and shook her head. "No."

"Which is it? What's wrong?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Beast Boy, did you not hear the part where I said I just healed your _broken neck_ , _shattered jaw_ , and _cracked skull_?"

He blinked a few times as the hamster wheel in his brain struggled to start back up. Poor little guy was having a hard time doing so and it was making him a little tired.

Wait, tired?

His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open as what Raven said hit him like a ton of bricks. "Raven-"

"I'll be fine." She interrupted. "I just need a little rest."

Beast Boy couldn't help but to reach up and trace her jawline (She looked a little surprised but didn't shy away from him). He honestly couldn't believe she used her healing powers on something so severe. She must be in so much pain right now. Hell, part of him _still_ didn't believe that's how her healing worked, taking in another's pain to heal them but hurting herself in the process. Friggin' crazy. How was he gonna make this up to her?

"You really had me worried." Raven said quietly. It took him a minute to register this though.

"I did?" He asked, surprised. He pulled his hand away from her and she looked a little…sad.

She nodded. "Yes. I-uh, _we_ , almost lost you."

"Pfft, yer not getting rid of me that easily dude." He chuckled. Raven snorted in amusement.

"I would hope not." She said with a small smile. Beast Boy looked, actually _looked_ , up at the violet haired girl above him. She looked tired and stressed out, totally different from earlier when she was...

Wait.

What was she doing before?

Heck, what was _he_ doing before he got hit?

"Raven, how did I get hit with a volleyball?" He asked, his mind coming up blank. This wasn't like when he forgot something, he totally wasn't remembering anything right before the ball hit him. "Why didn't I hear it coming?"

Raven raised an eyebrow. "You don't remember?"

He shook his head. "I mean, I remember coming down here, putting the lotion on your back and legs and then…nothing."

She frowned once more then looked up and scanned the area. When she found what she was looking for, she yelled out. "Cyborg! Come here!"

Within a minute Cy came running up, panting from running. With as much as he weighed, it wasn't exactly easy to run in sand. "What's up?" He called out.

"I need you to run a CAT scan on Beast Boy, he appears to have a brain injury." Raven responded, gesturing to said boy's head. "I could heal it, but I need to know what I'm healing first."

"You mean he didn't already have brain injuries?" Cyborg chuckled. When neither of the other teens laughed he grunted in annoyance and popped the panel on his arm open. His cybernetic eye lit up and this weird little beam thing swept of Beast Boy's head several times. The panel beeped and Cy looked at it.

"He still has a concussion, but he'll be fine." Cy said as he shut the panel.

"He doesn't remember what he was doing before the ball hit him." Raven said before Beast Boy could.

Cy shrugged. "He _did_ get hit pretty hard, so I'm not surprised. At least it was just a few _minutes_ worth and not, say, a few _months_ he forgot."

For some reason Raven looked really upset. "There's nothing you can do?"

"Nope." The elder Titan replied with a shake of his head. "Heck, with BB's regenerative abilities even the concussion will fade quick. I'd say an hour or two. He _might_ remember, he might _not_. He _probably_ could have healed what Star did to him. But don't quote me on that, we still haven't figured out the full extent of his regeneration."

Beast Boy frowned. He didn't really want anyone else to know he hadn't figured out how to heal himself yet. It was kind of embarrassing since, ya know, reptiles and amphibians could do it when they needed to. So why couldn't he?

A question he decided to explore another day since, right before his very eyes, Raven seemed to...deflate.

"Just my luck." She mumbled very softly. Beast Boy, who still had no idea why she was so upset, started to ask her a question, only to get cut off by Cy.

"Raven, _you_ need to go do that healing trance thing you do after healing a major injury." Cyborg said firmly. She started to argue, but Beast Boy cut her off before she could try.

"Raven." He said, sitting up a bit. She hesitated and looked at him. He gestured at the tower. "Go on. I'll be fine dude. We can pick up whatever we were talking about after you rest."

Raven gave stared at him for a few moments before she sighed and nodded. "Alright. Don't do anything strenuous while I'm gone."

And with that, she disappeared into a portal.

Cyborg offered his buddy a hand, albeit with a raised eyebrow. "Y'all were having a conversation _without_ her yelling at you?"

Beast Boy grasped the offered hand and hoisted himself up. He started brushing himself off. "Yeah. Apparently Rae's crushin' on someone, so I was tryin' to talk her into asking him out."

Cyborg's eyebrow raised even higher, disbelief on his face. "You serious man?"

Beast Boy nodded as he wiped the last of the sand from his butt. "Yup."

"Any idea who it is?" Cyborg asked, his arms crossing. Beast Boy glanced up at him, seeing the serious big-bro attitude his friend adopted. He chuckled, knowing that _Broborg_ was pretty protective of the girls and would hurt _any_ guy who hurt them (Robin was not excluded, but Beast Boy didn't know this at the time).

"I've got an idea, but I won't tell ya. _That_ is up to Rae." The green boy said firmly. Raven had trusted _him_ with a nice bit of info and he dang sure wasn't gonna give it up just because _Cy_ was nosey.

Said elder Titan was now glaring at him and Beast Boy could tell he was irritated, both by his stance and the aggressive scent he was giving off. But Beast Boy wasn't gonna back down either. His friendship with Raven was the weakest on the team and this was the perfect chance to strengthen it.

"BB-"

"Nope."

"Any other time-"

"Not _this_ time."

"Look here, grass stain, I don't want another Mal-"

" _That_ won't happen again." The animorph punctuated this statement by letting his eyes shift to that of the Beast. Cy froze, unsure of how to respond to such a response. The Beast was something he was wary of, rightfully so since BB had kicked his ass the first time he had assumed that form (not to mention he had seen his buddy go _berserk_ during that whole Slade-attacking-the-tower-for-Raven incident right before the end of the world!). This also let Cy know how _serious_ his little buddy was, not that Cy could blame him. The cybernetic man himself still held a grudge against that overgrown lizard for breaking Raven's heart.

Fortunately, the argument was interrupted by the timely arrival of a certain boy wonder.

"Alright Cy, I put the rest of the Starfire-proof volleyballs away. Now all we have is the regular ones." Robin said as he walked up, a fresh ball bouncing in his hands. He too froze when he saw the staredown between his friends. Seeing _Beast Boy_ serious and _Cyborg_ wary was a very new and unnerving experience, one that he wasn't mentally prepared for.

"Beast Boy, good to see you back up and running." Robin said slowly, not sure about what was going on. Beast Boy let his eyes revert to normal as he looked at his team leader.

"You didn't really think a _volleyball_ would keep me down for long, did ya dude?" He grinned.

A smile that did _not_ reach his eyes.

Robin suppressed a shudder and shook his head. "Not really, but it didn't stop me from worrying about you."

Beast Boy shrugged. "I'm fine, thanks to Rae."

Robin nodded. "That's good. How is Star? She was more than a little upset that she hurt you."

"She's…." Beast Boy trailed off as he started looking around. "That is…a really good question. Lemme find out."

And with that, he dashed off before Cyborg could start their argument again. He heard Robin ask Cy what _the hell_ that was all about, but all Cy did was grunt.

 _Good._ Beast Boy thought to himself as he hopped onto a rock and looked around. _He needs to mind his own beeswax. Not that I've got much room to talk, but hey, Rae trusted ME with her crush. ME, not Star, not Rob, not Cy. ME. Gotta keep that trust as long as I can before I screw up and piss her off like I usually do._

The thought made him smile, washing away his annoyed mood. He supposed that today wasn't exactly what he would call a _good_ day, but it wasn't _bad_ either. It was an okay day, one that he could remedy by cheering up Starfire and ogling Raven a bit more.

That last thought _really_ made him smile. She didn't have a boyfriend yet so she was free game.

A smile that faded when he finally spotted Starfire way out on a rock in the water, her head buried in her knees.

He sighed and shifted into an osprey. With a shrill cry he leapt into the air, feeling the air in his feathers as he pumped his wings to gain altitude. As much as he loved the feeling of flying, he had always kind of envied the girls for not having to use their arms to flap (though that would have been _really_ funny to watch).

* * *

It didn't take him long to get to the distraught girl and he shifted back to his human form as he landed. He stood there staring at her back for a moment, unsure of what to say (he wasn't exactly talented when it came to talking to girls). He really wasn't mad at Star, but she was still very upset with herself.

 _Hmm…_

"Hey." He finally said, having come up with nothing witty or funny to say. "Where's my hug?"

Starfire's head jerked up so quick she actually fell backwards a little. She turned and found Beast Boy standing there, his arms crossed and a cheeky grin on his face. She gave him a little smile, but didn't get up.

"I am most sorry, friend Beast Boy, but Raven said I was not to hug you." She said sadly.

"I don't see Raven anywhere." Beast Boy looked around, then back at her, his grin growing. "And who's gonna tell her?"

Star hesitated and looked around as well. The nearest Titans, playing in the water, were still quite a ways away and they definitely weren't paying attention. She nervously stood up and wrapped her arms around him, giving him a firm but not serious hug.

Now, Beast Boy had always had a bit of a love/hate view of Starfire's hugs. On one hand, she hugged him almost as much Elastigirl used to and it was nice. He liked hugs. On the other hand, Star's _insane_ strength was a known bone cracker. Back on the first hand, _boobs._ He might think of her as a sister, but the knowledge of their nonexistent blood relation was still very present in his mind and it let him enjoy the sensation of her boobs pressed against him without making him feel weird. Besides, she was taller than him, so his face was kinda close to them. _Wwwwhich_ led back to the second hand, being that Starfire _was taller than him_. It wasn't something he liked in his girls; he actually preferred them shorter. It was one thing if a girl was close to his height, like Raven, but Star was just too tall for his liking.

But then again, he was only five foot four.

Not exactly _tall_.

"See, was that so bad?" He chuckled as she released him and they parted.

Star gave him a small smile. "No, it was quite pleasant. Thank you for forgiving me."

"It was an accident Star, it's okay, really." He grinned. "Besides, do ya know how many times ive hurt myself with pranks? Too many to count!"

Her small smile faded away. "Yes…but…friend Raven was _very_ upset. I fear it will be some time before she forgives me for injuring you."

Beast Boy's eyebrow rose. "Was she really that mad?"

"I have never seen her so angry before." Starfire nodded. "She had the expression as if she were going to cry when Cyborg listed your injuries."

 _Okay, wow, that's not what I was expecting to hear._ Beast Boy said to himself as he turned and gazed up at the tower. _What's up with Raven today?_

"May I ask what you were doing with her beforehand?" Star asked curiously. "I have never seen the two of you do much of the hanging out, so this was unusual to me."

He looked at her, mulling it over in his mind if he should tell her what was up with Raven.

 _Nah. If I didn't tell Cy or Rob I can't tell Star either._ He decided. _But I don't like lyin' to her…_

"I was helping her put on sunblock." He said with a shrug. It was half the truth, at least.

She looked confused. "Please, what is this blockage of the sun? Is the sun doing something wrong?"

Beast Boy laughed. "Nah, it's a lotion humans put on their skin because too much sunlight does bad stuff to us."

"Oh." Star said quietly as she gazed up into the sun (without flinching). "That is troublesome indeed. My people absorb the radiation from stars, so we have no such worries."

"Must be nice." Beast Boy couldn't help but to mutter, though Star still heard him.

"Yes, it is." She said, looking down at him with a genuine smile. "The radiation we absorb transforms into energy we use for flight and starbolts, as well as allows us to travel in the vacuum of space without air."

"That's pretty cool."

She shook her head. "No, it is actually quite cold in space until you reach a star, then it is very hot."

"Uh, that's not what I…" Beast Boy hesitated before grinning and shaking his head. "Nevermind."

Starfire let out a little giggle. "I know what you meant, but your expression was quite amusing."

Beast Boy rolled his eyes in a very Raven-like way, to which Star giggled at.

* * *

Within a couple of minutes they were sitting side by side on the rock, their feet kicking in the cool ocean water. Beast Boy was gazing out at the waves and Starfire seemed to be lost in thought.

"Beast Boy, has Raven…said anything unusual to you today?"

The boy in question jerked his head away from eyeballing a fish that was eyeballing his toes and looked at her. She was now looking out over the water, her face thoughtful.

He chewed his lip, wondering if he really should tell her what he knew about Raven. He hadn't told her before because, well, Starfire likes to _talk_ and pester people about things. He did too, but in a different way. But if she already noticed something was off with Raven…

"Whaddaya mean unusual?" He asked carefully.

Star turned and looked right at him. "Friend Raven does not like swimming, yet she came to me and asked to borrow a suit of swimming. I was very much happy to give her one, but she did not take the one I had gotten for her."

Beast Boy raised an eyebrow. "You bought her one?"

"Yes, the very first time we went shopping together." Starfire nodded. "I am aware that that was years ago, but I had thought the suit of swimming would still fit her. She did not appear to grow much, but I was mistaken."

"….huh?"

Star pointed at her bikini top. "The top I bought for her was too small, as in the strings did not quite reach enough to tie them. I thought it was strange that the clothing had shrunk until Raven explained that she was no longer a standard B-cup, she was now closer to a D-cup."

Beast Boy's mind descended to a very dirty place that it had no intention of leaving as he struggled to find a PG-13 response. "I…um…what?"

The alien girl shrugged. "I still do not fully understand why Earthlings must label breast sizes. On my planet we wear a single top piece that simply stretches and conforms to our body shape, no matter the largeness of our breasts."

Aaannnddd further down the rabbit hole his mind went….

"In addition to this small top, the bottom was too small as well. Friend Raven said there was no way she was going out there in a Gee string." Star tapped on her chin thoughtfully. "But I do not even know what this string of gee is. Do you?"

Beast Boy shook his head rapidly as he nonchalantly put his hands in his lap. He did _not_ want to explain the sudden bulge there caused by her observations. He needed to change the topic _quick_ before he made the sea saltier than it already was.

"So, uh, how'd she end up in the one she's wearing?" He asked, not quite realizing what he said until after it passed his lips. He mentally scolded himself.

"I offered her one that is considered _normal_ by Earthling standards, simple and black, but she said she wanted something a little….what was the word she used? Risqué? It was not a word I am familiar with, so I asked her what it meant." Starfire paused, her red eyebrows furrowing in thought. "She said what it meant didn't matter, that she had received a powerful confidence booster and that she wanted to show off while she was still feeling good about herself."

Beast Boy forgot about his boner for a moment as he digested what Starfire had said. An ultimate confidence booster of some kind? Was she talking about him complimenting her? That _seriously_ could _not_ have been the first time she's been complimented.

…right?

"Kori…" Beast Boy said slowly, knowing full and well that the shortened version of her real name would get her complete and total attention. "When you and Raven go shopping, I know that a lot of guys and at least a few girls always gather around you, being all flirty and stuff. But…does anyone ever flirt with Raven?"

Her answer was hesitant and somewhat sad.

"No." She then sighed, which was a very rare thing for her to do. "In the years that we have been friends and sisters, never once have I seen anyone attempt to court her. Most people don't even look at her and those that do avoid her. I have seen one or two of the pale people from her club of poetry stop and speak with her, but it is always brief and very…bland. I have never been able to understand why people are that way around her. I understand that she is…odd…but that is no reason to avoid her as if she's a grukblag veknilsquir."

Beast Boy, who had _zero_ idea what a gookback veggiesquib was, propped his head up in his hand to think.

 _Nobody's ever flirted with or complimented Raven, so that explains her reaction to me earlier. But that's just…sad. Raven totes deserved to be flirted with, she's a pretty girl for crying out loud! It's not fair, she needs attention too._

And with that, Beast Boy was struck an idea.

 _Dude, I just had one of those lightning bolt moments!_ He paused. _What's it called? Epicot? Epidural? Epitome? Yeah, that's it, an epitome! I just had my first epitome! All I gotta do is get Aqualad to flirt with her and she'll get, like, the ultra mega super awesome confidence boost of woah! Then she can ask him out and she'll get to be happy too! Hot damn Beast Boy, you are a GENIUS!_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Sorry this is late guys and gals,life is a tad rough for Foamy here lately. I'm trying to keep going with this. Hopefully it'll be easier now. *snickers* enjoy!**_

* * *

Beast Boy was a man with a plan. A totally awesome, epic plan to get one of his bestest friends a boyfriend. All he had to do was sly talk Aqualad into getting flirty with Raven, then it was smooth sailing from there. She was already sexy as hell, so he'd definitely notice her, and with the confidence Beast Boy gave her earlier, she'd definitely have the guts to tell him how she feels then ask him out. Then he'd have to find himself a girlie of his own and ask her out. _Then_ he could talk Aqualad and Raven into going on a double date with him and his girl and he could totally brag about hooking them up. It'd totally impress whatever girl he had. Heck, he might even get a kiss outta that!

It was a nice thought, especially since he's never been kissed before.

He'd always wondered what it was like to be kissed. Its gotta be nice, seeing as he'd see a gazillion couples do it. He wondered if that's where the warm and tingles came from. He wondered what lips taste like. Do they taste like fruit, nice and sweet? Are they warm like a freshly baked bread roll? Are they soft like a marshmallow? Why was he thinking about food? He usually only thought about food this much when he'd been doing a lot of shapeshifting.

Oh wait, he _is_ a shark right now.

 _Dun dun._ He sang to himself as he slowly swam towards a group of the other Titans.

 _Dun dun._ He got closer.

 _Dun dun-dun dun._

 _Dun dun-dun dun-dun dun._

He continued singing to himself as he swam ever closer towards his friends, changing between sharks until he reached the great white. And then he pushed himself to grow to the same size as Jaws. It wasn't something he did often, increase the size of his animals, but since he had been secretly working on it he might as well test it out.

 _Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun DUN DUN DUUUUUN-_ He burst out of the water, jaws opened wide, twenty feet long and five thousand pounds of aquatic _rage_ flying into the air.

Time seemed to slow for Beast Boy as he watched his intended target, Cyborg, turn around. His eyes popped out of his skull and he let out a shriek that even the earless Beast Boy heard. Around him, the other Titans screamed and scattered.

 _Booya._ Beast Boy snickered to himself as he slammed into his best buddy and lightly bit down on his arm.

"ITS GONNA EAT MEEEEEEE!" Cy screamed before he detached his arm and took off in the water, practically running on top of it to escape the 'dangerous animal'. Beast Boy didn't hesitate to release the arm and swim after his friend, snapping his jaws at the retreating feet.

But all good things must come to an end, especially since sharks can't go on land.

Cyborg had indeed made to shore safely, and had even kept right on running and screaming towards the tower. The _only_ reason he slowed was because he heard a very familiar sound.

The unmistakable sound _Beast Boy_ _laughing_.

The cybernetic man slid to a stop in the sand, whipping around to find his buddy rolling in the surf, practically drowning himself as he laughing himself to tears.

"GRASS STAIN!" Cyborg shouted, charging back down the beach. "YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT!"

"NOT SO FUNNY WHEN **YOU'RE** THE MEAT HUH?!" Beast Boy shouted back and he climbed to his feet. He saw that Cyborg was coming back down at full speed and it gave him an idea. He shifted again, this time into a bull, and counter charged his buddy.

Cyborg had been _intending_ to give Beast Boy the mother of all wedgies and the _worst_ noogie in existence upon catching the little green booger. But what _happened_ was that Beast Boy dipped his head low right before they met, caught him by the waist with his horns, then flipped Cy right up into the air.

As he sailed out over the water, Cyborg couldn't help but wonder… _is this what flying feels like?_

Beast Boy, on the other hand, snickered to himself when Cyborg hit the water like a ton of metal bricks. His laughter was short-lived, seeing as he suddenly became engulfed in water. He whipped around to find a glowing eyed Jinx looking more than a little pissed off.

"That wasn't funny, Beast Boy!" She shouted before splashing him again. "Shark attacks aren't a joke!"

"You're right!" He laughed as he splashed her back. "It was _hilarious_!"

Within seconds they had a full on splash fight going on. Within minutes, the other Titans joined in (though Beast Boy didn't see Aqualad or Cyborg anywhere) and it became a full on splash _war_. Beast Boy found himself getting hit from all sides, so he shifted into an octopus and started splashing back in eight different directions. He was now hitting Jinx, Kid Flash, Hot Spot, Thunder, Bushido, Herald, Robin, and Pantha all at the same time.

It was some good ol' fun until Gnarly appeared out of nowhere and brought both of his huge fists crashing down to create a splash so big that _everyone_ got hit.

Guess who was the new target after that?

 _Better him than me._ Beast Boy thought to himself as he ducked low in the water. He needed to catch his breath before he went on the offensive again-

Something bumped into his shoulder and jolted him from his thoughts. He turned his head and found Aqualad floating there, face down in the water. Raising an eyebrow, he turned his buddy over so that he was floating on his back.

The Atlantean appeared to be…stunned?

 _Oh, right, Gnark did that big splash with his fists, so the sound shockwave musta hit Aqualad._ Beast Boy mused as he poked the other guy in the face. _Well crap. How am I supposed to talk him into flirting with Raven like this?_

He thought about it for a moment before shrugging and slapping his buddy in the face until he woke up.

"What the-" Aqualad floundered in the water as he regained coherency. He thrashed for a moment before regaining his footing and balance. He whipped his head around until he found Beast Boy floating next to him. "What happened?!"

Beast Boy shrugged. "Dunno dude, you just floated up from wherever."

Aqualad's face screwed up in thought. "I was looking for Cyborg's arm and I heard something loud…"

"Did you find it?"

"No, but Cyborg was walking along the bottom with some kind of scuba mask on when I last saw him."

"Yeah, he built one into his other arm after the last underwater mission we had with you. He figured it was better safe than sorry."

"Gotta suck to not be able to breath underwater, huh?" Aqualad grinned.

"Wouldn't know." Beast Boy grinned back before fist bumping his friend.

"Thanks for the hand BB." Aqualad chuckled as he looked around. "After that hit to the head earlier, I didn't figure you'd be up and running around so soon."

"I'm _a lot_ tougher than I look dude." Beast Boy chuckled too as he watched Gnarly and Kole splash back at the others. "Though I mighta been a goner if not for Rae."

The Atlantean's eyebrow raised and his grin grew. "Yeah, I saw how close you two were. You got a little something something going on with Raven?"

Beast Boy laughed. "Nah dude, I just owed her one so I was helping her with sunblock. She burns like a piece of bread thrown into a fire."

"Riiiigghhhttt." Aqualad said skeptically.

"No, seriously dude, it ain't like that." Beast Boy frowned. "Besides, Rae's waaaaay outta my league."

It was the truth, really. Raven is was waaay smarter than him, he can barely get her to laugh, and she was sexy as all get out. How could a funny nerd like him get a genius bombshell like her?

"Pft, only if you're into creepy goth chicks."

Beast Boy's head whipped around so fast that he almost broke his own neck. "What'd you say?!"

Aqualad raised an eyebrow. "I said Raven is a creepy goth chick."

Beast Boy couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Dude… _what the fuck?_ "

The other boy shrugged. "Sorry man. I mean, she's kinda cute, but that whole _doom and gloom_ thing she's always got going on is creepy as fuck."

"What doom and gloom shit are you talking about dude?" Beast Boy found himself getting angry. Who the hell was Aqualad to say that about Raven?! Did he have _any_ idea of the shit she's been through?!

Another shrug. "Always hiding under that cloak, sneaking around all quiet-like, and that weird Ass voice of hers totally doesn't belong on a girl."

Beast Boy's eye twitched. _This motherfucker…_

Aqualad held up his hands in mock surrender. "I'm not saying she's a nice girl, dude, but she's straight up cre-"

Beast Boy got right in his face, growling. " _Raven_ _is not creepy!"_

Whatever Aqualad was lost as an explosion of water happened right next to them. Both boys flinched and looked at it to find Cyborg there, his missing arm magnetically attached to his back. He leaned in and roared at them.

" _I heard the C word! Who said it?! I'll squash'em, I'll murderize'em, I'll chop'em into bits and make fish sticks out of 'em!"_ He practically foamed at the mouth while speaking. Beast Boy glanced at Aqualad and Cyborg instantly rounded on the other boy.

" _You got some kinda problem with my lil sis?!"_ He shouted.

Aqualad threw his hands up in surrender and spoke very quickly. "Who me nope not at all she's a really nice girl but I don't know her very well so she's kinda cre-erm, she spooks me!"

"Good." Cyborg glared daggers at the Atlantean before he looked at Beast Boy. "You, _grass stain_ , better watch your back."

Beast Boy's lips twitched up into a smile for a moment, just long enough for Cyborg to look back at Aqualad and point at him. "I've got my eye on you, sharkbait."

There was then a loud noise like from a submarine as Cy sank back into the water, still glaring. Aqualad stared at the spot for a moment before he ducked his head underwater. When he came back up, he looked confused.

"Where the heck did he go so quick?" He muttered.

Beast Boy decided to not answer. He was still pretty pissed at Aqualad, so he directed his attention elsewhere, namely the splash war raging on around them.

"Aw, come on BB. Don't be mad man, you know I wasn't trying to be mean about it." Aqualad sighed. "She's just not my type."

 _I noticed._ Beast Boy thought to himself as he shrugged. "Yer just lucky Rae wasn't here to hear it."

"I said I'm sorry damnit." Aqualad crossed his arms in thought as Beast Boy remained silent (he was so mad that he didn't want to talk). A smile crept onto the taller boys face after a few minutes. "Tell ya what man…I'll make it up to you."

Beast Boy raised an eyebrow.

Aqualad moved closer. "We'll hang out tonight, I'll take you to see a movie and we'll grab a bite to eat. What do you say?"

Beast Boy snorted. "What, and watch every girl in town hang all over you while I get ignored? No thanks man."

"Come on man, you're a cute and funny guy with some awesome ears. I'm sure there's _someone_ that wants you." Aqualad had gotten rather close whole speaking and now he was leaning pretty close to Beast Boy. He smelled like kelp and there was an odd smile on his face.

Beast Boy shook his head. "Nah, I'm good."

"Beast Boy-" The smile turned into a frown as Aqualad's attention was drawn to something off to the side. "Speedy! What are you slimming around doing?"

Beast Boy turned in the direction his friend was shouting and saw Speedy ducking behind Kole and Gnarly. He looked up at them, gave them a thumbs up and a smile, then quickly swam away. Aqualad shook his head.

"I swear, he'll flirt with anything that has a vagina." He grumbled before calling out again. "Hey Kole!"

She turned around and blushed when she saw that it was _Aqualad_ that had called out to her.

"Was Speedy bothering you?"

Kole raised an eyebrow. "No?"

"Ah oka-oof!" Aqualad was cut off by Beast Boys elbow. He looked at the green boy to see him pointing at Kole. She looked back at them until Beast Boy pointed at his chest, which made her look down.

Her top was missing.

With a shriek that made Beast Boy's ears bleed, she ducked down into the water and started crying. Gnarks reaction was instantaneous as he turned and wrapped his arms around her. Everyone stopped splashing at the same time, the only sound left in the air the sobbing of the younger girl.

"Gnark?! Gnark gnark?!"

"My bikini top is gone!" She wailed into his chest.

"Gnark gnark gnark gnark gnark-"

"Yes I'm sure it was tied!"

"Gnar-"

"No, it didn't come loose!"

"Oh boy." Beast Boy heard Aqualad mutter. He looked at his friend to see him looking around. Beast Boy didn't know what he was looking for, his mind was too preoccupied the thought of Kole's boobs. It was the first time he'd seen boobs in person and he had to say, it was kinda nice. Kole's were small and perky, with little pink nipples. A part of him wondered if he should feel bad for admiring them since she was a couple of years younger than him. Now that he thought about it, wasn't she the same age he was when he joined the Titans? Yeah, she had to be. So, does that make him a pervert for looking at her boobs even though it was technically an accident?

As he pondered this, he just happened to notice Speedy swimming away from Argent. There was a flash of red and Beast Boy realized it was Argent's bikini top. She had nice boobs too, with dark nipples.

"Speedy!" He shouted. "Give them back!"

Every other head in the area snapped to the archer, who looked like a fox caught in the henhouse. His hands came up out of the water and showed that they were empty.

"I haven't done a thing." He said innocently. Beast Boy snorted and stuck his head underwater. He did a partial shift into a dolphin and began using his echolocation on the area around Speedy.

He came back up within a minute. "Oh really? Then what are those things between my legs?"

"Uhhh…my meat and two veggies?"

"Nah, didn't detect anything like that." Beast Boy snickered. Speedy shot him a hateful glare and swam toward him.

"Look here you broccoli headed-"

"Oi! Is that my top?" Argent shouted. Speedy paused and looked back to see that he had indeed lost his grip on the bikini top and it had floated to the surface. He turned back to declare his innocence…but found himself unable to talk as Gnark's hand wrapped around his face.

Nobody had been aware that the big man could move so quickly, especially in the water. But the Neanderthal had shot straight through the water like a giant serpent and snatched up Speedy in less than five heartbeats. He lifted the archer clean up out of the water and Kole's bikini top, wrapped around his leg, came loose. Without hesitating the big man pulled the cloth off, then turned and slung Speedy as hard as he could.

Speedy soared through the air, like one of his own arrows, screaming all the way up until impact with the water way out in the bay.

" _Gnark."_ Gnark spat.

Kole, wrapped protectively in Bumblebee's arms, gasped. "Gnark! Language!"

Aqualad sighed. "I better go get him before he drowns."

Beast Boy watched the Atlantean swim away as the teens around him resumed their social activities. He could hear Argent complaining to Jinx about Speedy and Kole was sniffling as Bumblebee comforted her. Gnark was close by to her as well. Lightning was complaining to Thunder about missing the view and his brother scolded him for his comments. Bushido said nothing, as usual, though Hot Spot and Herald were quietly talking about Argent's chest. Wildebeest, Kid Flash, and the twins were splashing each other again and Jerico was just swimming around. Pantha, Starfire, and Robin were discussing swimming combat (Starfire was describing some sort of creature on her homeworld that sounded _terrifying_ ) while Red Star and Killowatt were walking through the shallow spots looking for seashells.

Beast Boy sighed and flopped back into the water, bringing his legs and feet up so that he could float on his back. He had a lot of thinking to do.

 _Man, how am I supposed to Aqualad to flirt with Raven now? He totally thinks she's creepy. I mean, I did too, but that was a long time ago when I didn't know her all that well. What the heck was he talking about anyways, none of that stuff was creepy. Rae's different and that's an awesome thing. I mean really, how many girls are there out there that're like her? Pft, none, that's how many._ He groaned to himself. _And how am I supposed tell Raven that the guy she likes thinks she's creepy? Do I let her find out? Do I tell her? Do I talk Aqualad into giving her a chance? How the hell am I supposed to do that?_

"Beast Boy?"

The boy in question tilted his floating head back a bit to find Bumblebee standing there, a serious look on her face.

"Sup Bee?" He asked, a goofy grin on his face. He'd always kinda liked Bee, mostly because she had Cyborg wrapped around her finger. Leverage was good, after all.

"Kole said you were the one who noticed her top was missing." Bumblebee said, cutting right to the chase. "If you even _think_ of picking on her-"

"Nah man, she's good." Beast Boy interrupted.

Bee raised an eyebrow. "That easily?"

He shrugged, his shoulders making small waves away from his body. "Some things aren't meant to be joked about."

"Mhm." Bee snorted. "I find out yer lying and I'll sic Raven on you."

Beast Boy laughed, but on the inside he was terrified. Raven was _scary_ when she was legit mad.

Bumblebee rolled her eyes, then pushed his head underwater. Beast Boy floundered for a moment (taking note that Bee has a nice butt, though it wasn't as nice as Raven's) before he broke surface once more. He stuck his tongue out at her as she swam away, then resumed floating.

 _What to do, what to do…_ He thought to himself.

He float there for a time, trying to think of some way to get Aqualad interested in Raven. So far, his best idea was pushing both of them into a ball pit.

Well, that was more of _his_ idea of a date, but maybe-

"Beast Boy, outta the way man!"

His head jerked up and he saw Aqualad swimming up fast, a limp Speedy on his shoulder. Beast Boy immediately rolled over and shifted into a dolphin. He made a sharp turn and circled around to meet up with Aqualad. He adjusted to the Atlantean's speed and pushed himself up under Speedy's other arm so that he wouldn't slip off.

Together, they took him to the beach. As they got closer Beast Boy had to shift to his him an form to walk across the sand. When they got far enough away from the water they dropped Speedy and Aqualad immediately began to do CPR on the unconscious boy. As he watched, Beast Boy had two thoughts.

 _Why isn't he using his powers to pull the water out of Speedy's lungs?_

 _And why does it look like he's kissing Speedy instead of doing mouth to mouth?_

Fortunately, the archer began to cough at this point. Aqualad turned him over on his side and Speedy spat up quite a bit of water. He was awake long enough to give his friend a little smile, then he passed out.

"Help me take him to the infirmary?" Aqualad asked, ignoring the stares of the others. There were some concerned looks, but an equal number that obviously felt that he deserved it (in fact, Beast Boy heard Kole scold Gnark for his language again).

"Sure dude." Beast Boy grabbed one arm while Aqualad grabbed the other. Together they hoisted Speedy up and began dragging him back to the tower.

* * *

"Thanks for helping me again Beast Boy." Aqualad said after they had lay the still unconscious Speedy in a bed in the medbay.

Beast Boy, still a bit miffed with the other guy, simply nodded. "No problem dude."

Aqualad then started up the medical machine Cyborg designed that was like some sort of x ray and catscan all in one and began scanning Speedy. Beast Boy slipped out the door while he was distracted.

 _What to do, what to do…_ He pondered as he wandered through the hallways. He had to find some way to get Aqualad to like Raven but he didn't know _how_.

 _I need something sugary for all this thinking I'm doing._ He thought as he headed for the common room. It took him a few minutes to get there.

"Raven?" He said in surprise, seeing her back in her uniform and sitting at the counter.

Raven looked up from her cup of tea, looking only surprised. "Beast Boy? I thought you were out swimming?"

" I thought _you_ were meditating." He countered.

"I already did." She shrugged. "I just…didn't feel like going back down there."

"Why's that?" Beast Boy asked as he went to the fridge and got a cold Mountain Dew out. He popped the tab and took a couple of good chugs before she answered.

"Just feeling a little stressed about earlier."

 _Awww man….she ain't gonna like this then…_ Beast Boy thought to himself as he took a deep breath. "Look Rae, Aqualad is in the infirmary with Speedy right now and if you wanna go talk to him then that's cool but you need to know that he…uh, well…he's not really interested."

Raven slowly looked up from her tea, her eyebrow raised. "Interested in…what?"

Beast Boy gulped. "Uh…you?"

The eyebrow rose higher. "Who said I liked _him_?"

Okay, _that_ was not the answer he was expecting.

"Uh…nobody?" He said nervously, feeling the need to get out of dodge before he put his foot in his mouth.

Raven stared at him for a moment before speaking slowly. "Beast Boy…please tell me that you didn't tell him that I was interested in him."

Beast Boy rapidly shook his head. "What? No way dude! I mean, you came up in conversation, but that was it!"

"Good, because I'm _not_ interested in Aqualad at all."

 _That means it really was Robin!_ Beast Boy thought as he nervously chugged the rest of his soda. _Shit, how am I gonna separate him from Star?_

"Why are you so nervous?" Raven asked him before draining the last of her tea. Beast Boy quickly decided that lying would be the _worst_ ooption.

"I was trying to think of a way for you to confess to that dude and I was coming up blank." He admitted. Raven looked rather surprised.

"That's…thoughtful of you." A shy grin formed on her face as she got up and rinsed her cup out.

Beast Boy crumpled his can up and tossed it in the trash, feeling less nervous since she kinda smiled. "Well, yeah dude, I wanna help ya. I can be yer wingman, though I've never done it before."

"Wingman?" Raven asked, confused.

He nodded. "Yeah, I go with you and drag off anyone hanging around him so you can ask him out."

"Is that so?" Raven's hand came up to hide her growing smile. "That's very sweet of you, but that's not feasible in this situation."

Beast Boy, who had no idea what _feasible_ meant, thought she was trying to back out and immediately got a little agitated.

"What? Of course its feasible dude! You can't give up like that!" He practically shouted at her. "Even if its Star that you're up against, I really think you have a good chance!"

Raven gaped at him for a moment before speaking slowly once more. "Beast Boy…who do you think I'm interested in?"

He threw his hands in the air in exasperation. "Okay, I admit it, I thought it was Aqualad at first, but then you told me it wasn't him so now I know it was Robin the whole time and shouldn't have bothered talking to Aqualad, I should have gone straight to Rob and nudged him your way."

"Beast Boy, I don't like Robin like that." Raven said softly.

He stared at her in shock. Just who the hell did she like?!

"You know what, no, it doesn't matter." He muttered to himself before sighing and speaking to Raven directly. "Look, Rae, whoever this dude is…I'll help you ask him out. But don't give up."

"I wasn't going to give up just yet." Raven reached up and lowered her hood.

 _Oh, she's lowering her guard! Time to for a headshot!_ Beast Boy thought as he stepped closer to her and gently grabbed her by the shoulders. She looked startled, but didn't pull away.

"Raven." He said her full name, knowing she'd know he was being serious again. "You are an _amazing_ girl, okay? You're really pretty and really smart and kind and just all around awesome. I've seen you do things that other girls couldn't even _dream_ of doing. I've seen how strong you really are. I _know_ how freaking awesome you are. You _can't_ give up, ever, because you will make this dude _stupid_ happy, okay?"

For some reason, Raven was downright _blushing_ now and he had no idea why.

"Look, Rae, I know I'm not a serious guy but darn it, I am here for you. Let me help you-"

"Wouldyougoonadatewithme?" She blurt out.

Beast Boy, who heard her but didn't understand what she said, furrowed his brow in confusion. "Huh?"

Raven's hand came up and covered her face as she softly cursed, _"Damnit Timid, not now!"_

Beast Boy released her shoulders as she stood there chanting her manta thingy for a moment. When she had composed herself, she looked him in the eye once more, her face flushed but calm.

"Beast Boy?"

"Yeah?" He answered, now _extremely_ confused. What the heck was going on-

"Would you go on a date with me?"


	7. Chapter 7

_**BOOM. NEXT CHAPTUH.**_

* * *

That poor hamster.

That poor, _poor_ hamster.

It simply could not comprehend the question that was just asked.

" _Would you go on a date with me?"_

So shocked was the hamster that it quite abruptly stopped running, the wheel in Beast Boy's head spinning wildly. Within seconds it became unbalance and listed to the side, slinging the poor hamster out. It bounced and rolled for a dozen feet before it slid to a halt. Animals from far and wide ran, crawled, slithered, jumped, swam, and flew up to watch the poor hamster twitch several times before its little paws brought a flower up to hold over its chest before a ghostly version of the rodent floated up and away from it, a little golden halo above his head. The other animals wept, of course, for Thinker was the smartest amongst them. For him to have died…they were now doomed. Probably.

A little green lizard wearing a cowboy hat stepped up to perform the eulogy. He cleared his throat and began to speak.

"Dearly beloved creatures, we are gathered here to see the passing of a great hamster, Thinker. Mr. Thinker, you, uh… you have the right to remain silent, speak now or forever hold your peace. Amen."

There was a chorus of _amen_ 's before a coyote, a catfish, and a vulture began to argue who got to eat the body. The other creatures paid them no mind as they tried to figure out who inherited the wheel and responsibility.

* * *

 _Outside_ of Beast Boy's brain, he had completely and utterly frozen in front of Raven.

"Huh?" He asked, in a really, _really_ small voice.

"I asked if you would go on a date with me." Raven said slowly.

* * *

 _Inside_ Beast Boy's brain…

"We need an answer, quick!" The gorilla screamed before he started jumping about and screaming some more. "Quick quick quick quick quick-"

He was abruptly cut off when a long green elephants trunk snatched him up by the leg and held him up to the pachyderms face.

The elephant sighed deeply. "Sometimes…you embarrass me."

"I'll do it." The boa constrictor volunteered.

There were more than a few skeptical looks from the assembled creatures. The boa became very indignant.

"What? You can trusssssst in me!"

"Yeah, no." The grizzly bear snorted before he grinned. "What we need is someone who knows the bare necessit-"

"I swear to god, if you start signing _again_ , I'll choke you myself!" The owl hooted in irritation.

"Oh, I'll do it!" The rabbit jumped up and down. The others looked at him in skepticism and he just grinned. "Come on, I got this! I-"

"Only think of _eating grass_ and _getting ass_." The cow joked. The assembled creatures began to laugh at the bunny, who stomped his little furry foot.

"Big words coming from the beast who took stupid lessons from the buffalo!" He spat.

Everyone looked at the buffalo in question, who was chewing on…a rock?

"HAS ANYONE SEEN MY NUTS?!"

Heads whipped in the direction of the new voice, revealing a very panicked squirrel.

"You lost them AGAIN?!" The lion roared.

"I was with warthog and meerkat and I put them down and and and-" The squirrel ran around in circles over and over as he spoke rapidly.

The panther nudged the lion and whispered in his ear. "Put _him_ in the wheel."

The lion was appalled. "What?!"

"Look at all the energy he has. He can jumpstart the brain until we can find someone less… _nutty._ "

The lion groaned at the terrible joke but nodded. The more intellectual animals present nodded their agreement (collective consciousness hearing, after all). Without warning the python struck, snatching up the squirrel and wrapping around him. The chimpanzee took them both and held them up to the wheel, where the snake released the squirrel. The rodent panicked, of course, and tried to flee. But the rhino was _juuust_ quick enough to swap places with chimp and snake and block the open side of the wheel by laying in front of it. With nowhere else to go, the squirrel began to run, making the wheel spin.

"Nuts nuts nuts nuts nuts nuts nuts nuts gotta find my nuts!" The squirrel chanted to himself as Beast Boy's brain started to sputter back to life.

* * *

 _Outside_ Beast Boy's brain….

He looked left, over his shoulder. Nobody there.

He turned and looked to the right shoulder. Nobody there.

He looked up. Nobody there.

He leaned over and looked behind him from between his legs. Nobody there.

Finally, _finally_ he looked back at Raven and slowly pointed at himself.

"Me?" He said in a disbelieving voice.

Raven nodded. "Yes, you."

"Me." He said, not asked.

"You."

"Me."

"Yes."

"Meeeee."

Raven tilted her head. "Are…you okay?"

* * *

Back _inside_ his brain…

"Nuts nuts nuts nuts nuts nuts nuts nuts-"

"Uh…is he gonna be okay?" The panda asked, eyeballing the mildly neurotic squirrel.

"I haven't the faintest idea." The lemur replied.

"Probably _not._ " The thorny devil lizard said softly. "After all, none of us are _real_."

The other animals present eyeballed him warily.

"Oi, is yous on the cactus juice agin?" The pigeon asked.

"We're all just figments of our own imaginations, never seen but always heard-"

"For the love of god, not this again…" The lion groaned. "Will someone _please_ restart the brain?!"

* * *

Back _outside_ Beast Boy's mind…

It was as if someone had turned the lights back on as Beast Boy's brain _finally_ started catching up to what was going on.

Raven had asked him out on a date.

 _Raven_ had asked him out on a date.

Raven had asked _him_ out on a date.

Raven had asked him out on a date.

 _Raven had asked him out on a date!?_

"I…um…uh…yeah." He stammered, his mind still a tad dumbfounded with the situation. "Can you repeat the question?"

Raven raised an eyebrow but did indeed repeat herself. "I asked of you would go on a date with me?"

He processed this, then answered.

"I'm sorry Raven, but I've never, um, looked at you that way before." Beast Boy said truthfully. He really _hadn't_ ever thought about Raven like that. Well, she had a smoking hot body that he had jerked off to more than a few times over the past few years, but still...

"O-Oh…" Raven visibly faltered, stammering a little. "I…I just thought that, w-well, with some of the stuff you've said today that…"

Beast Boy waited a for moment for her to continue, but when she didn't he raised an eyebrow. "That what?"

Raven's shoulders sagged a bit and to Beast Boy it looked like the warmth in her eyes simply evaporated as she shook her head.

"Nothing." She said softly. She abruptly turned away and Beast Boy caught the very faintest whiff of something salty. "Nevermind. I'm sorry to have bothered you. It won't happen again."

Time seemed to slow for him in that moment.

 _Hold on…is Raven…crying?_

 _No shit Sherlock!_ Another voice in his head spat. _The guy she likes just told he wasn't interested!_

 _But dude, what was I supposed to do?! Lie to her?_

 _No, numb nuts, but you coulda been nicer about it!_

 _Dude, all I said was-_

 _I know what you said, dumbass. But we shouldn't have even said it._

 _What? Why not?_

 _Uh, heeelllooo? A girl ASKED US OUT ON A DATE!_

 _Uh…yeah?_

 _Oh for Christ sake. Do I have to spell everything out for you?_

…

 _I'll take that as a yes._ The other voice sighed. _Okay, now, I want you to think about something._

 _Okay…?_

 _When was the last time we went on a date?_

… _with Terra…_

 _And how did that end?_

… _badly…_

 _ **Very**_ _badly. Now, did we go on any dates before that?_

… _no…_

 _Did we go on any dates AFTER that?_

… _no…_

 _Right. So, here's the facts. We've been on ONE date in the entirety of our teenage years and its left us emotionally scarred to the point of only_ _ **flirting**_ _with girls but never_ _ **asking them out**_ _because we're afraid of a repeat of Terra. On top of that, we haven't met a girl that was legit comfortable with me being green._

… _You really don't have to remind me of that, dude. Any of it._

 _Apparently I DO because Raven just asked you out on a date and you practically told her no!_

 _But-_

 _Dude, didn't she say earlier how she thought the guy she likes looks exotic? That was us!_

 _Wait…Rae doesn't care if I'm green?!_

 _Obvi not._

 _Woah._

 _Woah is right dude. Now, lets look at the pros and cons of going on a date with Raven. Pro, she's hot._

 _Dude, I don't wanna go on a date with a girl just because she's hot. I want-_

 _I know what you want, dumbass, I'M YOU_.

 _Oh yeah…._

 _Now, where were we? Ah, that's right. Pro, she's really frickin' smart._

 _That_ _ **is**_ _kinda cool, ya know._

 _Duh. She's always reading books, smart people always read._

 _Wait, read? Dude, didn't Rae have one of the Harry Potter books earlier?_

 _Yeah…?_

 _That means she can tell me what everyone was talking about when they said something got left out of the fourth movie! That stuff about Dobby and someone called Winky?_

… _Hm…fair point. Pro, Raven knows about Dobby._

 _Hell yeah dude, we elf eared dudes gotta stick together!_

 _We're a little off topic…_

 _Oh, right, sorry._

 _Okay let's see…cons next?_

 _Uh…sure?_

 _Con….she likes to yell at us._

 _Yeah…but that doesn't really bother me cause its kinda fun to make her mad sometimes._

 _Well, take that off the list then *scribbling sound* Hm…con…her room is creepy._

 _Hm…well…I dunno…it's always nice and cool and dark in there…the statues are the spooky part…but that's it…_

 _*scribbling noise* well there goes that too…oh, I know! Con…she eats meat!_

 _Does she? I've never actually watched her eat…_

 _*pause* I…have no idea. Lets put a pin in that one._

 _Okay…_

 _Con…_

…

 _Um…._

… _?_

… _I cant think of any more…_

 _*facepalm*_

 _Oh shut up, I didn't hear_ _ **you**_ _come up with anything!_

 _Psh, I can come up with stuff!_

 _HA! Yeah right._

 _I'll prove it! Pro, Rae ain't scared of the Beast!_

… _._

 _Uh huh, gotcha there. Pro, Rae knows what its like to struggle with a dark side._

 _I think we're a little more complicated than Doctor Jykle and Mr Hyde…_

 _Hey, I didn't hear you come up with anything else!_

 _You know what? Fine. I got one, though it shoulda been obvious from the start!_

 _Oh yeah? Hit me with it then!_

 _Pro: she's not Terra._

 _Huh? How's that a pro, she's obviously not Terra._

 _That_ _ **is**_ _the pro. Raven is honest, she actually tells people the truth. She doesn't sugarcoat things, she doesn't twist words, she doesn't lie or manipulate, and she isn't going to stab us in the back!_

… _I…uhh….well…_

 _She's not Terra dude._

 _I know that, I just-_

 _Look, I k ow what her gonna say: We've always thought Raven was way out of our league, that's why we never bothered looking at her as girlfriend material. But…if she's totally into us..._

… _okay…yeah…I see yer point…_

 _So you know what you gotta do?_

 _Yep._

 _Good. Now, go make our dream of having a hot date come true!_

 _Did you just reference Shia-_

 _JUST DO IT!_

 _FINE! LEEERRROOOYYYY JEEENNKKIINNSSS!_

Back in reality, Beast Boy's hand snapped out and grabbed Raven's cloak. She didn't notice until it tugged the clasp against her throat.

"Yes Beast Boy?" She asked, not turning around.

"When do you wanna go?" Beast Boy asked in return, now feeling a tad hyper. He was totally fixing to go on a date! He was getting sooooo excited!

There was a moment of silence before Raven shook her hooded head. "I don't want a pity date, Beast Boy."

He raised an eyebrow. "Huh? I'm not asking you on a pity date cause yer cryin'."

"I'm _not_ crying." She said firmly, still not turning around. "I just…it doesn't matter. I'm not going on a pity-"

"Raven, it's _not_ a pity date!" Beast Boy snapped at her a little harder than he intended. When she didn't answer, he continued, but calmer. "This is me saying _yes_ , I will go on a date with you, dude."

She was quite for a long, long moment before speaking softly. "I don't understand. Why? You just said that you haven't looked at me romantically before."

Beast Boy released her cloak and shoved his hands in his pockets, unable to stop himself from smiling. "I know what I said, Rae. But sometimes a date is something to figure out if you _can_ like a person. So, if this date goes good…"

Her cloak moved a bit and he heard Raven wipe her face. Seconds later, she turned around. She looked at him, eyes a little red but not watery. There was a hopeful expression in said eyes, one that Beast Boy hadn't seen too often. It made his smile grow a little.

"Do you mean it?" She asked, her hopefulness spreading to her voice. He nodded and the warm look returned to her eyes as she smiled. "Thank you for giving me a chance Beast Boy."

The boy in question found himself blushing a little at her expression. No girl had _ever_ looked at him so happily. Not even _Terra_.

"N-no problem Rae." He stuttered before mentally scolding himself for being as smooth as a cheese grater. "So, um, when do you wanna go?"

"Could we go…tonight?" Raven asked shyly.

Beast Boy glanced at the clock. 4:46. "Hm. Sure! We'll leave at seven and find something to do. Sound good?"

"Yes, that gives me time to meditate."

"Great!" Beast Boy said before he had a thought. "Oh, and we should totes go in civvie clothes."

Raven quirked an eyebrow at him. "We should?"

He nodded. "Yup. That way I get to show off my hot date!"

Raven blushed once more and looked away, muttering under her breath. "I'm not hot."

"You are if I say you are!" Beast Boy said cheekily. Raven just rolled her eyes and turned away, but he still saw the happy little smile on her face widen a bit. If being complimented like that made her happy, he'd have to do it more often.

"I'm going to meditate then. I'll see you in a bit." She said as she walked towards the common room door.

"It's a date!" He jokingly called after her. He didn't need to be an empath like her to know that she smiled even more.

Beast Boy happily looked around the room, trying to remember exactly what it was that he had even come in here for. When he couldn't remember, he plopped onto the couch and turned the gamestation on.

* * *

"There that grass stain is! Shoulda known the little weasel would be in here playing games."

Beast Boy looked over at the other Titans who were entering the room. Cyborg was at the front, a scowl on his face…until Beast Boy held up the other controller.

Across the room and up and over the couch Cy came, moving much faster than anyone thought he could. Beast Boy chuckled as his best buddy immediately logged into his profile and joined his game of Monster Truck Massacre 2.

"So you were hiding in here huh?" Cy asked. "I thought you might been sneaking around outside, checking out the girls."

"Nah man, something came up." Beast Boy couldn't keep himself from grinning. "Besides, _you_ were the one taking pics of Bee's butt underwater."

"I haven't the faintest idea of what you're talking about."

"Riiight." Beast Boy glanced over his shoulder at Bumblebee, who was sitting in a chair and talking to Starfire and Jinx. Above them was the clock, which read 6:19. "Geez, its almost 6:30? I'll have to wrap this up soon dude."

Cy glanced at him with a raised eyebrow. "Why?"

Beast Boy grinned. "Got a date with Rae at 7."

Cy paused the game and slooowly turned to look at his buddy. He was quiet for a moment before he snorted.

Said snort turned into a chuckle, which turned into a snicker, which turned into a full fledged laugh.

"You? Goin' on a date with _Raven_?!" He roared with laughter. "Now _that_ is a good one BB!"

Beast Boy saw several people in his peripheral turn to look at them, but he paid them no attention.

"I'm serious dude, I got a date with Rae!" He huffed.

"I'm sorry BB, but that's got to best one of the best jokes you've told!"

"It's not a joke!"

"Yeah right! I bet if I ask _Raven_ she'll get pissed!"

"You'd be _wrong_!" Beast Boy snapped. " _Raven_ is the one that asked _me_ out."

Cyborg's only response was to double over with laughter, which only infuriated Beast Boy to the point of thinking of throwing his so-called _friend_ out the window.

"I'm going to have to side with Cyborg on this one Beast Boy." A familiar voice said from behind said animorph. He turned and found Robin standing there, toweling his hair.

"Dude, really?" Beast Boy asked in disbelief.

Robin shrugged. "I've never seen her show any interest in you, so its more than a little hard to believe. And it _does_ kinda sound like a joke coming from you. A _mean_ joke at that."

"Dude, Rob, I _swear_ its not a joke."

"I am sorry friend Beast Boy, but even I am having difficulties in believing you."

Beast Boy looked over to see Starfire floating over towards them. He frowned, his ears drooping. "Not you too Star."

She bowed her head shamefully. "I am sorry, but she has never discussed an interest in anyone after the incident with Malchior. If she were to have feelings for you, I would have known."

"Oh come on, yer not telling me you two discuss _everything_."

Starfire paused in thought before speaking. "No…there are many things we do not speak of."

"See? Just because you don't know-" Beast Boy started to say, but was cut off by Cyborg, who had regained his ability to talk.

"Maaaan, yer just mad cause we called you out on yer joke."

"It's not a joke!" Beast Boy shouted as he jumped up and threw his controller down. He rounded on his best buddy. "Why the hell won't you believe me?"

"Probably because one of Raven's favorite things to do is _yell at you_." Cy chuckled. It was funny to see his little buddy mad that one of his own pranks was gonna backfire before it even happened.

"I'm telling you dude, I'm going on a date with Raven!"

Cy raised an eyebrow once more, his amusement slowly fading. "You know, BB, if Raven hears you I bet she'll toss you into another dimension for real this time."

"I bet you a hunnerd bucks that _yer wrong,_ that I _am_ going on a date with Raven." Beast Boy growled, his anger peaking. Why wouldn't they believe him?

Cy's robotic eye seemed to shine and he smiled wickedly. "Oh, you wanna bet _money_ now huh? Fine, you're on! A hundred dollars says you're a liar!"

"I want in on this too!"

Both boys looked over to find Jinx had walked up unnoticed.

"Thirty bucks says Beast Boy is a liar." She grinned evilly. "And when he _loses_ he's gotta run around town as a unicorn."

"Fine." Beast Boy spat. This was getting stupid-

"Lightning also thinks the green one lies.

Heads snapped over to see the yellow oriental teen standing behind the couch. He held up some cash.

"Twenty says Beast Boy is lying and that Raven will punish him!" He laughed.

Beast Boy frowned. He had always thought Lightning was a bit sadistic compared to his somewhat mellow brother, but this was new. "Sure dude, whatever."

"That's a hundred and fifty bucks you'll be paying out BB." Cyborg snickered. "Sure you got that much cash?"

"I don't _need_ that much cash because you guys will be giving it to me!" Beast Boy snapped before stomping away. "Now, if you dudes and _jerks_ will excuse me, I gotta shower for _my date_."

He was aware that there were more than a few people staring at him as he left the room, but he didn't care. He did, however, hear Robin speak.

"Don't you think that's a bit mean, Cy? It's one thing to pick on him-"

"Nah man. BB's gotta learn that there are some things you just don't joke about. _That_ is one of them."

 _Joke, huh?_ Beast Boy growled to himself as he made his way to his room. _Well, the jokes on HIM! Not only am I going on a date with Raven, but I'm making a hundred and fifty bucks too! I can take her somewhere nice to eat with that._

That was a calming thought. In his own wallet he only had about thirty in cash, give or take some change. He actually hadn't meant to bet with money, but he was so mad at that moment he couldn't think straight. Still, it was a good thing. He could take her for some decent food with what he had, but it wasn't enough for much else. But with a hundred and eighty….yeah, a nice dinner at least. Maybe some flowers. Girls like flowers, right? Yeah, definitely some flowers. Oh, and candy? Wait, Raven only likes green candy. That might be a little harder to get, just green.

 _I wonder, is it sour apple or lime that she likes?_ He pondered as he entered his room. It was a mess, as usual, but it was an _organized_ mess. He knew exactly where everything was.

He headed straight for the pile of shirts on the bottom bunk of his bed and shifted through them until he found a nice and plain purple t shirt. He didn't own anything fancy, but shirts like these are useful for any occasion. He next moved to the pile of shirts and jeans in the corner near his desk. A little digging revealed a nice, dark pair of blue jeans that fit his slim waist just right. Next he moved to his dresser and opened the top drawer, looking for his Captain Morgan boxers. They were his favorite pair. Upon finding said boxers, Beast Boy snatched them up and practically ran for the shower down the hall.

Within a minute he was in the shower.

Within five minutes he was scrubbed clean.

Another five minutes of grooming and he was dressed and back in his room, slipping some sneakers on.

Within two more minutes he was ready, downright _hyper_ about going on a date. _With Raven!_

He actually had to force himself to _not_ skip down the hallway to Raven's room. He arrived at exactly seven o'clock and knocked on her door. Within seconds it opened, revealing Raven in a pair of dark skinny jeans (which was doing wonders for that magnificent ass of hers) and a tight fitting blue neck shirt (which gave a very nice view of her cleavage) along with some black converse sneakers.

She looked _hot_ in civilian clothes.

"Heya Rae." Beast Boy smiled at her. "Ready?"

She smiled back. "Yes, I am. Lets go."

"Sure thing." He chuckled. "But I need to swing by the common room first."

"Why?"

"Well, as it turns out, someone owes me a little money…"


	8. Chapter 8

_**Hey guys and gals. Sorry this is late. Life has an irritating habit of getting in the way. Plus, I had to chop this chapter in half to post it. Gonna edit the other half later and try to remember to post it in four or five days. ~Foamy**_

* * *

" _No. Way."_

Beast Boy let a grin creep up on his face as he glanced at Jinx, who was staring at him slack jawed. Beside him, Raven arched an eyebrow at the handful of shocked people staring at them as they walked into the common room.

"Beast Boy…what's going on?" She asked slowly, looking around. The only person _not_ staring at them was Cyborg, and that's because his attention was glued to the television screen.

Beast Boy snickered. "Well, Cy and I made a bet. I told him that I was going on a date with you and he called me a liar, so I bet him a hunnerd bucks that I _was_ going on a date with you. He took it and now he's gonna have to pay up."

Raven slowly turned and looked at him. "You…made a bet about our date?"

"Yup." When Raven didn't answer, Beast Boy glanced at her to see that she was staring at him. He raised an eyebrow of his own. "What? Did I do something wrong?"

"I was thinking about that." She admitted. "This arrangement was only made just over two hours ago. Judging from your reactions, you weren't expecting it at all, so there's no way you could have made a bet about it beforehand. That means you made a bet _after_ our plans were made, knowing full well that you would win."

"Pretty much, yeah." Beast Boy nodded.

Raven gave him a small frown. "Technically, Beast Boy, you _cheated_."

The animorph shook his head. "Nuh uh, no way dude. I _told_ Cy, Rob, and Star _several_ times that I was going on a date with you. None of them believed me, they thought I was gonna pull a mean joke or something."

Her eyebrow raised once more and she looked a little surprised. " _None of them_ believed you?"

He shook his head, his ears drooping a little. "Nope."

Raven stared at him for a full minute before she turned and disappeared into a portal. Beast Boy, surprised at her reactions, looked around to find her reappearing…

…right in front of Cyborg.

"Geez, Raven, not in front of the TV please!" The cybernetic man whined as he leaned over to look around her. The other players, Pantha, Wildebeest, and Kilowatt, all eyed her warily, though she didn't pay them the slightest bit of attention. Beast Boy started walking closer, wondering what she was gonna do.

"Cyborg." Raven said in a tone that _demanded_ attention.

"Uhhhh…yes?" Cy asked, glancing at her. His vision shifted back to the tv, but he almost immediately did a double take on the girl standing before him. "Woah, where you headed off to tonight? Big poetry contest at the Book and Bean?"

"No." She said calmly. "I'm going on a date with Beast Boy."

The only sound in the room at that moment was that of screeching tires, clashing metal, and an explosion as Cyborg's in-game car drove off the track and straight into a gas station, blowing it and several other passing cars into smithereens. He gaped at the girl before him for a few minutes before he grinned.

"Oh, I got it! He must have promised you half the bet money if you faked a date with him. Clever! He almost pulled that one off-"

" _ **Victor. Stone.**_ " Raven glared at him with four demonically glowing eyes. _**"Are you calling me a liar?"**_

Cyborg instantly shrank away and the others on the couch started scooting as far from him as they could.

"What? Who, me? Never! There's no way my lil sis is a liar, nosiree, nope, no way!" He babbled, trying to find some way to salvage the situation. "I just, ya know, find it a _little_ hard to believe you right now, so, um-"

Raven let her eyes return to normal as she interrupted him. "Well, you had better start believing it then."

Cyborg hesitated. "Um…why?"

"Because I _did_ ask him out on a date."

"You…did?"

" _Yes_." She said in exasperation.

Cyborg's mouth opened and closed several times, a clear mockery of a fish, as he struggled to comprehend what he was hearing. "Um…why…did you-"

Raven interrupted him once more "Because I _like_ Beast Boy."

His eyes got _huge_. "You do?!"

"Yes, _I do._ " She said emphatically as she blushed a little. "He's… cute… and funny."

Hearing Raven say that made Beast Boy feel all warm and fuzzy inside (even though he blushed a bit on the outside).

"You…like…Beast Boy…" Cy said slowly. "You…like…"

"Yes, we clarified this. Any more stupid questions?" Raven said irritatedly, her blush fading with her agitation.

The answer she got was most certainly not the one she was expecting, seeing as all the power seemed to drain from Cyborg's body, making all the blue lights turn dark as his cybernetic eye turned black and his human eye shut. Everyone looked at him in concern.

"Dude?" Beast Boy tapped his buddy on the head.

Raven frowned, then stepped forward and grabbed his left arm. She pried at his forearm for a moment before the hidden panel popped open. She opened it and the screen started glowing bright blue. There was some text on it, which Beast Boy had to lean over to read.

 _Error 404: Cyborg Not Found._

 _Would you like to reboot?_

 _(Y) / N_

"You are _such_ a drama queen." Raven huffed as she hit the Yes selection. A little load up bar popped up at 1%.

"Maaaan, I don't wanna wait on Tin Man all night!" Beast Boy whined. "We've got a date to go on! Just swipe a hundred from his wallet!"

Raven gave him a small smile. "As much as I literally _hate_ to damper your enthusiasm about our outing, I can't do that."

"Why noooot?" He whined once more.

"Two reasons."

"Which are…?"

"One, that's stealing. And yes, it counts even if he's your friend that owes you the money. He's unconscious and unable to consent to the monetary exchange."

 _It's a good thing I listen to her more than anyone knows, or else I'd have no idea what she just said._ Beast Boy thought before fakely groaning. "Fiiinnneee. The other reason?"

Raven's smile turned into a mischievous grin. "He doesn't have any pockets. All his money is stored electronically."

Beast Boy facepalmed and Raven made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a smothered giggle.

"Here Beast Boy."

Both Raven and Beast Boy looked over at Robin, who was standing there holding out a one hundred dollar bill and looking away. Although his eyes couldn't be seen through his mask, his face was etched with shame.

"Dude…you bet too?" Beast Boy asked in shock.

Robin looked up at him in equal shock. "What? No! I'm just giving you this because there's no telling when Cy will be back online and I can just make him transfer money to my account."

"Oh…well…thanks Rob." Beast Boy grinned as he took the bill. Now for Jinx and Lightning-

"Is that _all_ that's for, Robin?"

Beast Boy looked at Raven, who was looking at Robin in disappointment. He looked back at Robin, who was looking away once more.

"I'm sorry Beast Boy. I didn't believe you at all." Robin said reluctantly.

The first thing that came to Beast Boy's mind was a very angry retort about Robin being too much of a pussy to ask Starfire out, followed by several insults concerning his hair gel, his sweat stink, and his obsession with the wrong things in life.

The second thing, _however_ , was something suggested by that little voice in the back of his head. He listened to it and decided that it was the better choice for date night.

"I'll forgive you Robin…under _one_ condition." He said with a sly smile.

Robin glanced at him warily. "Which is…?"

"Me and Rae get to turn our communicators off while we're on our date." He gestured to the surrounding people. "After all, dude, you got plenty of Titans here. No need to bother us while we're out on _our date._ "

Robin pondered this before he nodded. "Alright Beast Boy. I trust you two to call in if you need us."

"Good!" Beast Boy slapped his hands together and rubbed the hundred dollar bill between them. "Now-"

"Friend Raven…I do not understand."

Beast Boy turned and looked at Starfire, who had come to float next to Raven. She looked confused.

"What is it that you don't understand, Star?" Raven asked, hands on her hips in a way that Beast Boy found to be oddly sexy.

"Well, you have never spoken of you having feelings for Beast Boy to me before, nor have I ever seen anything that suggested it." Star said carefully. "So I must ask…why did you not tell me?"

"Because I didn't want to." Raven said simply. Starfire opened her mouth in shock, then started to speak but she was cut off by Raven. "Before you say it, _no_ its not because I don't trust you. I _do_ trust you, more than I ever thought I would. But this was something that I needed to do _myself_. I had to deal with calming my emotions, testing my powers with said emotions, and finding my center to be able to experience these things all on my own. There was no reason to bring anyone else in on it because it is the first thing in my entire life that I'm doing for _myself_."

"I…think I understand." Starfire said slowly. "It is…it is like a Tamaranean warrior trial, where one may bring a single ally to assist you. It is considered a good thing to have a warrior that you trust enough to bring with you on such a task, but you bring more honor to yourself if you do it alone."

Raven stared at her friend thoughtfully for a moment. "Something like that, yeah."

Starfire gave her a little smile then turned to Beast Boy. "I apologize for not believing you."

He shrugged. "Its okay Star. Maybe one day you can go on a double date with us, assuming _someone_ asks you out."

Beast Boy heard the sharp intake of breath behind him and he snickered. Starfire didn't seem to catch on to his jab at Robin (she was busy talking about all the things they could do) but he could see that Raven was staring at him wide eyed. He wasn't entirely sure why until he heard a voice behind him that wasn't Robin.

"Here green one."

Beast Boy turned back around and found Lightning standing next to a rather annoyed looking Robin. The electric boy was holding out a slightly singed twenty dollar bill.

Beast Boy grinned and took it from him. "Nice doing business with ya, dude."

"Thunder said it was foolish to bet against you, but I did not listen." Lightning grumbled as he turned away. "Next time, I will."

Beast Boy was about to reply when he heard Raven speak.

"Did you steal this?"

He turned back around (at this rate he was going to get dizzy) and found Jinx standing next to Starfire, holding out some crumpled bills to the empath.

"No!" Jinx spat. "Just because I _was_ a criminal doesn't mean I stole _everything!"_

Raven merely raised a disbelieving eyebrow. Jinx rolled her eyes.

"Look, when times got tough, like right after getting out of juvie for whatever you lot put us in for, we had to find ways to _make_ money so that we could get back on our feet to _steal_ money. I…" Jinx hesitated before sighing. "I used to make beaded jewelry and sell them for a couple of bucks apiece. It was quick, beads and string are cheap, and kids loved them. I usually had a few hundred bucks within a couple of weeks cause I would hit up places crawling with kids."

"That is…surprisingly harmless." Raven said. "And the others?"

Jinx shrugged. "Mammoth moonlighted construction, Gizmo did electronic repairs, Billy delivered packages, See More did moonlight welding, and Kyd…well, I'm not sure what he did. Hive, either, for that matter."

"I assume those jobs were done for people in the criminal world?"

Jinx shrugged again. "Maybe, maybe not."

Raven looked at her skeptically but took the money. Beast Boy grinned. _Now_ they could leave-

"Yo, B-Man."

Beast Boy looked to his left to find the Herald walking up. He grinned at the musical hero, having taken an instant liking to him the other day. "Wassup dude?"

"For you." Herald said as he held his hand out. Beast Boy looked at it to find two fives and a ten in it. His eyes widened a little.

"Dude? What's this for?" He asked.

Herald grinned slyly. "Me and Jericho each bet ten bucks against Kilowatt and Hot Spot about whether or not you were telling the truth. Guess who won?"

"Uh…okay? What's that got to do with me?"

"We'd be popsicles if it weren't for you, man." Herald pushed the money into Beast Boy's hand. "It's the least we can do to say thanks."

Beast Boy was shocked. Now he had _two hundred_ in cash for his date with Raven! "I…uh…thanks dude."

"No problem." Herald replied before clapping his friend on the shoulder and walking away. Beast Boy, grinning like a fool, turned back to Raven.

"You ready, Rae?" He asked. Raven handed him the other thirty dollars and he stuffed it all in his wallet.

"Yes." She said with a small, but undoubtedly happy, smile.

And with that, they sank into one of her dark portals.

* * *

Now, once upon a time Beast Boy had thought Raven's portals were creepy and freaky to travel through. As time went by, however, he had realized that it was just his inner animal reacting to the unnaturalness of it. After a bit of soul searching after he had become closer to Raven, he realized that he was no longer bothered by it. It fact, he had not only grown accustomed to it, but he had come to somewhat enjoy it. It was dark and cool in the portal and many of his inner creatures felt comfortable in there (primarily the nocturnal ones).

But now it was _totally_ different.

"Sweet! We're in the park!" He said gleefully. "Dude, yer teleportation is _awesome!"_

Raven gave him a low chuckle. "It certainly has its perks, I'll admit."

Beast Boy looked around, noting that they were on the south side of the park, nearest to the restaurants, café's, and a few other miscellaneous stores. "Whaddaya wanna do first Rae?"

"Why don't you pick the first thing?" Raven said thoughtfully. "Then I can pick the second."

"Sweet!" Beast Boy rubbed his hands together gleefully as he began to think. _Now, where do I wanna go? The arcade, Funworld with the ball pit, a roller skating ring-_

 _Woah woah woah, hold up dude._ The voice in the back of his head said.

 _Huh? Now what?_

 _Dude, that's stuff that YOU like._

 _Uhhh…yeah? Your point?_

 _That isn't stuff Raven will like. Well, might not like._

 _What's not to like about arcades?_

 _They're loud and noisy, the complete opposite of Raven._

 _But she said-_

 _I know what she said dude, but yer the dude on the date. Yer supposed to take her to places that SHE likes._

 _But…I don't know any-_

 _Oh yes we do._

 _We do?_

 _Yes._

 _What is it?_

 _Her poetry club place._

 _The one with the goth kids and coffee?_

 _Yeah._

 _I dunno man…not sure if there's anything in there I'd like…_

 _There'll be ONE thing._

 _Eh? What's that?_

 _Raven._

… _.fair point. Where'd you get so smart?_

 _I'm your brain. You should probably listen to me more often._

 _Ya know…that might be a good idea…_

 _No shit Sherlock._

"Let's go to the Book and Bean." Beast Boy said a moment later. Raven looked rather surprised.

"Really?" She asked. "Why?"

Beast Boy's brain spoke up once more. _Okay, now repeat after me…_

Beast Boy listened, then started speaking. "Well, the first date is supposed to be about people gettin' to know each other and stuff. I mean, I _know_ you, but I don't really _know you know you_ , if you know what I mean. Like, I dunno why you like to read so much, it bores me to death. But there's obviously some kinda reason you like it, so I wanna know why."

Raven stared at him for a moment before that happy little smile returned.

"Okay Beast Boy." She said softly. "Let's go."

* * *

It only took them about ten minutes to walk there (side by side, with Raven's hand occasionally brushing against his), but Beast Boy didn't mind. The funny looks people were giving them were more than a little entertaining.

When they arrived, he looked up at the sign that read _The Book and Bean Café_ , with a picture of a coffee bean sitting on a book next to it. It had big glass windows on the front and he could see about a dozen people inside, several reading and several in line at a counter that looked like it had a gazillion types of coffee at it.

 _Dude, I should totally open the door for her._ He thought before he hopped forward and grabbed the door. Raven looked pleasantly surprised as she passed through, giving him another smile.

He fist pumped. _Score one for BB!_

He followed her in until she stopped and looked around. "Do you want to hang out here in the café or go downstairs to the gathering room?"

"Whaddaya do in there?" Beast Boy asked as he looked at Raven, pointedly ignoring a couple of girls who were batting their eyelashes at him.

"That's where the poetry jams are held, it's sort of like an open mike stage setup, a handful of booths and tables, a non alcoholic drink bar, and a bathroom."

"Anyone down there tonight?"

"There's _always_ someone down there."

"Well lets go then!" Beast Boy chuckled as he started walking towards a sign that had an arrow pointing to the right and down and read _The Ink Blot_. After dodging around about a dozen book cases, multiple chairs with occupants, and nearly tripping over someone's service dog, the reached the sign and descending staircase. He figured a bookworm just like Raven had come up with idea for to be the name of this little gathering place and he would find he was quite right.

The stairs led to a semi-dark room roughly half the size of the store above them, with various support beams scattered about. There were about a dozen booths lining the walls along with various generic tables and chairs scattered about. To the immediate right of entering was a drink bar similar to the one above. A young brunette woman stood at it, idly running a rag over one spot as she listened to some black guy in a black _meh_ shirt on stage. He was saying something with a lot of rhythm, but it seemed to go in one ear and out another with Beast Boy after he heard the word _Audacious._ He had no idea what it meant.

"Let's get a drink." Raven suggested, drawing his attention as she approached the bar. The girl standing there turned and looked at her, an amused smile on her face.

"Hello Raven." She said. "Figured you wouldn't come back after that argument with Gerald."

Raven snorted as she sat down on a stool. "As if that idiot would stop me from coming here. Has he figured out what _capricious_ means yet?"

The girl, who's nametag read Jessica, shook her head. In doing so, she finally noticed Beast Boy, but that might have been because he sat next to Raven. She gave him a legit smile.

"Why heellloo there Beast Boy." She said sweetly. "What brings you here with Raven? Bored at the tower?"

Beast Boy saw Raven stiffen out of the corner of his eye right before he replied to Jessica.

"Actually, me and Raven are on a date." He said, perhaps a little too loudly.

Jessica's jaw dropped and all around them the other people stopped talking and stared. Beside him, Raven started turning a lovely shade of red.

" _You_ are on a date with _Raven_?" Jessica asked in shock.

"Yup." Beast Boy said smugly, noting that Raven turned a shade darker after he spoke. He wondered what was bothering her before he remembered that she was an empath. That meant she could feel the shock of the people around them and it was embarrassing her to be the subject of attention.

Beast Boy, on the other hand, _loved_ being the center of attention.

But what could he do to help?

 _Hmm…what if I got up on the stage and sang a silly song?_

 _Then people would laugh at you, dumbass, and not in the good way._

 _Do you have a better idea?_

 _Yup. Get you and Rae some drinks, then find a nice booth away from other people and let her calm down. She's not used to this much attention, let alone being seen in public with our goofy ass._

 _Yessir_.

Beast Boy looked up at the drink menu on the wall. There were a lot of teas and coffees on it, but he didn't like either one. Tea was bitter and coffee was just bleh. Still, he kept scanning the list until he found something that sounded familiar.

 _Fuze? Is that that bottled fruity tea you see in gas stations?_ He thought to himself. _Never had it…but maybe the fruit blocks the bitterness. I'll give it a shot._

"One Fuze, watermelon, for me and an herbal tea for Rae." Beast Boy said to the still shocked girl. Raven looked at him in surprise, but he just gave her a knowing smile. She mouthed _thank you_ after realizing he was trying to brush everyone off. He nodded, filling with pride that he had made the right choice, and handed the speechless Jessica a ten dollar bill after she brought the drinks. He grabbed them, grabbed Raven by the arm, and drug her over to a booth in the corner.

Plopping down, he didn't hesitate to pop the cap off the bottle of Fuze and take a swig.

He swished it around in his mouth for a moment before swallowing and beaming at the bottle. "Dude… _tasty_."

"I am legitimately shocked that you are sitting there drinking that." Raven said from her seat across the table.

Beast Boy looked at her, eyebrow raised. "Why's that?"

She shook her head. "I…just…well…its _tea_."

"Yeah. But I'll never know if I like something unless I try it." He might have shrugged indifferently as he said this, but he couldn't keep the sly smile from forming on his face as he stared at Raven. She looked down at her cup of tea and sipped it, a wry smile on her still somewhat red face.

"Thank you for…you know…diffusing the situation." She said softly. "I wasn't expecting them to be so shocked and it made me realize just how bizarre it must seem to them. I must look so very out of character.."

Beast Boy shrugged again. "I'm used to getting stared at. I'm _green_."

Raven looked up from her tea, her smile turning a little mischievous. "So…you wouldn't care if _I_ stared at you?"

For some reason, that smile gave Beast Boy goosebumps, but in a good way. He couldn't help but to bring his arms up and flex his lean limbs, proudly showing off his biceps. Raven snorted into her tea and it made him laugh.

 _Hey stupid, don't make her choke!_

 _Dude, settle down, I got this._

 _Yeah?_

 _Yup. Hold my tofu and watch this._

 _Well…alrighty then._

"So, Rae, this is the part of our date where we're supposed to talk about hobbies and stuff and try to find something we connect on." Beast Boy said cheerfully before taking another sip of his drink. "But before we do that, I have a question."

Raven set her tea down and leaned forward on one arm, looking at him curiously. "And that would be…?"

Beast Boy took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He felt silly wanting to ask this question (surely a new experience for him!) but he was going to do it anyways.

"What was Dobby supposed to be doing in the fourth movie?"

Raven's curiosity turned to confusion. "I'm…sorry? What?"

"Well, I read online somewhere that Dobby was supposed to be in the fourth Harry Potter movie but wasn't included for some reason and, ya know, Dobby is my second favorite character after Hagrid and I just really want to know what he was supposed to do and-" Beast Boy said in an embarrassed rush before Raven cut him off.

"Hold on….we're on a _date_ …and you want to ask me questions about _Harry Potter_?" She said incredulously.

"Well _duh_ , yer like, really smart and you read a lot so you gotta know what happened to Dobby!" Beast Boy said with an indignant pout. "We elf eared dudes gotta stick together, ya know."

At first, Raven said nothing.

Then her hand came up and covered her mouth.

And then the _giggling_ started.

Beast Boy, who had only heard the sound of Raven laughing once before (the pink clad Happy Raven in Nevermore) could only stare at her in shock as she tittered from side to side laughing.

"I'm sorry!" She gasped between giggles. "You just looked to _serious_ about it that I just can't help myself!"

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up Happy." He grumbled as he crossed his arms and pouted some more.

Within a minute she had (mostly) stopped laughing. Pushing her drink to the side (first time he's seen her do that!), Raven leaned forward and rested her head in one hand, grinning happily.

"I'm sorry, Beast Boy. Honestly." She said gently, the smile never leaving her face. Beast Boy could have sworn her clothes turned pink, then purple, but when he blinked they were the normal color.

 _What the heck was that?_ He wondered as he fakely sighed. "Well, I've always wanted to make you smile. Guess it's a start."

"That it is." Raven murmured, one hand coming up to brush her hair back behind her ear in a way that Beast Boy found to be rather alluring. The smile she was giving him was starting to make him feel all warm and fuzzy and her eyes were just….well, he felt like he was a bug being attracted to a light; he just wanted to get closer and closer.

 _Not a good idea dude. It's the first date._

 _Yeah yeah, I know._

"So…you want to know where Dobby was?" Raven asked, her smile growing more. He nodded.

"Alright. Well, what happens is…"


	9. Chapter 9

_**Why hello my dear readers! Guess who's back? Back again? Foamys back, tell a friend! Guess who's back guess who's back guess who's back, da na na-**_

 _ **Okay, in all seriousness, I'm sorry I up and poofed for a bit. Life has been particularly stressful for me since July and I reached a point where I was so stressed out that I had a constant migraine and a constant twitch in my right eye (no joke at all, that only happens when I'm pushed to the edge of my sanity). When I reached the point where I was going to snap out on everything and everyone, I finally said FUCK IT, I'M GOING ON VACATION!**_

 _ **So I've been relaxing for the past couple of weeks, keeping myself away from anything that could stress me out, including writing. I still wound up with a hankering for some writing (go figure), so I scribbled this up for you guys. I still have a few days left of my vacay too, which I'm going to enjoy it too. Hope you enjoy this chapter, cause the ball is finally rolling!**_

* * *

Truth be told, Beast Boy wasn't entirely sure on how to deal with this situation.

On one hand, he had a rather vibrant Raven (which was just weird to see) explaining to him the situation about Dobby and Winky (whom he had no idea who the hell that was at first), even telling him that the female house elf was supposed to be in a later movie too. She explained to him Hermione's elf freedom movement and subsequent effects of it too. He would come to learn that Raven's favorite characters were Hermione, McGonagall, and _Snape_ , of all people, and that she had once taken an online quiz (out of curiosity) to see what house she would have been sorted in. Turns out it was _Ravenclaw_ , which honestly made Beast Boy laugh more than a little. Raven got a chuckle out of it too and even said that was fine with her, Gryffindor and Slytherin were too troublesome.

But on the other hand…. _boobs._

Like, Raven's moving about, excited gesturing, and occasional hops in her seat (which were odd but kinda cute) were making her boobs bounce or jiggle. With this being the first time him seeing her cleavage (bathing suit not counting for _many_ reasons), it was honestly difficult to _not_ look at them. It was strange because there had been plenty of times over the past couple of years that he had seen them bounce or jiggle (whether through training or combat), and yet it was only _now_ that he found himself unable to keep his eyes off of her. He couldn't quite put his finger on it as to _why_ though. Beast Boy had never seen Raven so lively before and it was both weird and amazing. It was almost like she was a whole different person.

He should probably focus on Raven now.

"…and since I'm pretty sure you've seen the movies, you know what happens to Dobby in the end…" Raven said as she grabbed her cup of cold (read: forgotten) tea and took a sip. She grimaced and pushed it to the side. "It was never really stated what happened to Winky or the other house elves either."

Beast Boy sat there and pondered all the information she had given him. Turns out that there was _a lot_ the movies left out from the books. It kinda irritated him since he loved a movie with a good plot. Knowing that it could have been _awesome_ instead of good….ugh.

"I wish they woulda stuck more to the books." He grumbled before chugging the last of his Fuze.

"That's what a lot of people have said, but I don't know if it's a true sentiment or not. I haven't actually seen the movies." Raven shrugged.

Beast Boy raised an eyebrow. "You haven't?"

Raven shook her head and a grin found a way onto his face.

"Sounds like you and me need to have a Harry Potter movie marathon then." He chuckled.

Raven looked surprised for a moment before she too grinned. "That sounds like fun, but not in one sitting."

"Why not?"

"Because if I stare at a t.v. screen too long I get headaches."

Beast Boy scoffed. "Lightweight."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Says the couch potato."

"Bookworm!"

"Nerd!"

Before Beast Boy could retort, there came several shushing noises. Both he and Raven glanced over to see several of the other people holding their fingers to their mouths with irritated looks on their faces. Raven flushed with embarrassment and mumbled a soft ' _sorry'_ while Beast Boy stuck his tongue out. He received several glares before the people resumed listening to some dude on the stage.

Turning back to Raven, Beast Boy chuckled. "You really wanna watch them with me?"

Raven gave him a little smile and a shrug. "Sure. We could watch one every couple of days."

"Sweet lick." He smiled. "You really do like those books, don't you?"

"I would have _loved_ to have been able to freely learn magic like Harry and the others did. _My_ training was…much less pleasant." Raven admitted, idly running a finger around the rim of her cup as she stared at it.

Beast Boy, who knew pretty much nothing about her youth, was immediately interested. "Why do you say that?"

"The monks were a bit more focused on me learning to _control_ my magic rather than to _perform_ my magic. The first ten years of my life consisted of intense daily training to control my emotions and learning to minimize the damage caused by them. I was constantly pushed to emotional extremes until I learned _absolute_ control." Raven said in a rather dull tone. Beast Boy didn't need to be an empath to tell that she wasn't fond of those memories.

"But I've seen you break things when you get mad." He said after a moment of thought.

She nodded. " _Absolute_ doesn't mean _perfect_. There's no such thing as perfect, in _any_ context."

"So that's why you don't break stuff anymore? 'Cause Trigon is gone?"

"Something like that. If I get mad or upset enough, my power will still break it."

 _Note to self: don't make Raven mad anymore, cause she can still hurt me._ Beast Boy thought before something else occurred to him. "So…if you spent all that time training…how'd you get into reading?"

Raven gave him a little smile. "That's because Azar was insistent that I be educated, even _if_ I was supposed to end the world on my sixteenth birthday."

"Ya know…" Beast Boy said slowly as he realized something. "I have no idea who this Azar even is. I mean, I've heard you use the name but that's it. Who _is_ Azar?"

Raven's smile grew and he could tell that she was pleased with his question. "Well…Azar was several things. One person, but she served several purposes. First and foremost, she was the spiritual leader of Azarath, head of the Azarathian religion which focused on peace and prosperity amongst the people. Because of her teachings, Azarath was utopia. There was no crime, there was no evil, there was no wrong doings. Everyone got along, everyone had a nice home, food when they wanted it, and so on and so forth."

Beast Boy interrupted. " _Everyone_?"

Raven knew what he was implying but just shrugged. " _Almost_ everyone. I was a special case for multiple reasons. Now, the second function of Azar was a teacher, like I just mentioned. While I lived there, she oversaw my training, but only interacted with me when necessary."

He interrupted again. "Why?"

"Because…well, there were more than a few people afraid that I could taint her with my quote unquote 'demonic' influence or that I would grow close to her and betray her to Trigon, and other rubbish like that." Raven shrugged when Beast Boy raised an eyebrow. "Yes, _extremely_ stupid fears, especially since I followed Azar more closely than anyone else did. The few times I did spend time with her were the best moments of my life. She was far kinder to me than any of the monks and read me stories when I was a child. Its because of her that I started reading. Its like-"

"-Every time you read a book, she's there with you." Beast Boy finished for her. Raven looked surprised.

"How did you know that?"

Beast Boy smiled. "I'm the same way with video games, but with my dad. It's one of the reasons I play video games so much."

Raven raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I think this that's first time I've heard about _your_ parents."

"I barely remember anything about them, they died when I was six. The only thing I remember about my dad is playing Mario with him and even that is a pretty fuzzy memory." Beast Boy fiddled with his empty bottle. He actually didn't care much for talking about his parents, but if Raven was sharing then he would too. It was fair, after all.

"If you don't mind me asking…how did they…?"

"Our boat sprung a leak and…my mom tricked me into flying to safety." Beast Boy admitted reluctantly. It wasn't a particularly fond memory, even if it too was fuzzy from age. He still couldn't remember _how_ his mother had done that either.

"I'm sorry to hear that Beast Boy." Raven said softly.

He shrugged. "Thanks, but I don't remember enough to feel bad about it. Its like…I can see them in my head but-"

"-You don't remember what their voice sounds like, how it feels to touch them, or even what it was like to be around them." Raven finished for him, much to his surprise.

"How'd you know that?" He asked, surprised. They seemed to have more in common than he thought and it was kinda cool.

Raven gave him a small, sad smile. "I feel the same way about my mother. I'm sure she cared for me as an infant, but I only have three memories of her before Trigon destroyed Azarath."

"Only _three_?!" Beast Boy said incredulously. Okay, not so cool. _His_ parents are dead, so they have an excuse for not being there. As far as he and the others knew, Raven's mom was there the whole time she grew up. What kind of bullsh-

She nodded. "Once when I was five, I saw her walking with some monks. I knew who she was instantly and tried to get her attention…but she kept walking. She completely and utterly ignored me. I was so heartbroken that I destroyed an entire wing of the monastery. It took them three days to rebuild it with magic and it was a week before any of the monks would speak to me." She paused to sigh, staring at the table. "The second time I was ten and there was a celebration going on. It was Azarath's five hundredth birthday. It was...difficult…to be around so many happy people, but I managed to hold myself together, which made Azar and the monks proud of me. Halfway through the celebration, I literally ran into my mother. All she did was tell me to be more careful and then walked away. I…had to leave the party and meditate for a while."

What kind of mega class BULLSHI-

Raven pressed on, a disappointed look forming on her face as she fiddled with a nonexistent speck of dirt on the table. "The…last...time was when I left Azarath for Earth. I saw her as Azar was giving me a gift. All mother did was stare back at me."

"Not much of a mom if you ask me." Beast Boy muttered before he could stop himself. He winced at the pure rudeness of what he said and glanced at Raven.

To his surprise, she merely shrugged. "Like you said, can't remember enough to feel bad about losing her. I still think of her as my mother, but I wouldn't call her a parent by any means."

They lapsed into a somewhat comfortable silence after that. Beast Boy fiddled with his empty bottle, pondering what Raven had said. He had never thought his own childhood was nice, but Raven's obviously hadn't been very fun either. And since talking about this kind of stuff was never something he was good at…

"Hey Rae?" He asked, grinning.

"Yes Beast Boy?"

"Let's blow this popsicle stand."

* * *

Within minutes, they found themselves outside once more. Beast Boy was feeling pretty good after seeing the shocked faces of the civilians they passed. Raven didn't _seem_ to notice them at all, but she _did_ have a small smug smirk on her face a few minutes later when the crowd thinned out.

"So, your turn to pick a place to go." He said as they strolled along the sidewalk.

"Hmm…" Raven looked around at the various shops. They had somehow spent over an hour in the Book and Bean, not that Beast Boy was complaining. This date was going pretty darn awesome in his opinion.

"Why don't we walk around the park?"

Beast Boy looked across the street to said park. It was dark, but the park lights were on. There weren't many people from what he could hear and smell, which meant they would have a little privacy.

"Sure thing." He said, smiling at her. Raven's smirk grew into a gentle smile as they walked across the street. They could have flown across or even teleported, but for some reason walking beside Raven was a lot nicer than he thought it would be.

Within a minute they had entered the park and were walking side by side, Raven's hand occasionally brushing against Beast Boy's. It weirded him out at first, 'cause Raven had never really been a touchy feely kind of person. But then again, she hadn't been very Raven-y today either.

It was kinda…refreshing.

"Soooooo…."

Beast Boy glanced at Raven, who was twisting the hem of her shirt in one hand. "Yeah?"

"What now? I've never been on a date before, so I'm at a bit of a loss." She asked, looking away in what he figured was embarrassment.

Wait just a cotton picking second.

" _Never been on a date before?_ " He echoed, slightly confused. "But what about all those times you hung out with that goth guy?"

Raven looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Goth guy? You mean Gregory from that club Blackfire took us to years ago?"

"Yeah, him."

"I _do_ meet up with him on occasion, but not because I was, or am, romantically interested in him. He's an English Major at the university now, so these days he just bounces project ideas and theories off of me because I'm pretty well read. It's nice to have someone to talk to about stories and books, so I enjoy the conversations we have." She shrugged. "Besides, he's gay. Never stood a chance with him to begin with."

"Oh."

It was all Beast Boy could say.

"Yes, well…I wouldn't have been interested in him anyways. I had someone else on my mind." Raven said with a slight smile. Beast Boy felt his face warm up as he looked away. He wasn't used to being flirted with, it was always him doing the flirting. Even _Terra_ had barely flirted with him.

This was weird, but in a good way.

"So, um, what else do you wanna talk about?" He asked, trying to hide his embarrassment. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Raven's smile turn into a grin.

"Well…we've talked a bit about the past and we know our present…so why not the future?" She suggested.

Beast Boy paused to think about this. It wasn't a bad idea, really. There might be some interesting things to talk about there.

"Sure." He said before they meandered down the park path. He wasn't really paying attention to where they were going, but thanks to his sense of smell and hearing he still knew they were on the eastern side of the park near Burger King. "Why don't you go first?"

Raven raised an eyebrow again, but she looked amused instead of annoyed. "I've done way more talking than you have tonight, so why-"

"This is the most I've _ever_ heard you talk and I'm kind of enjoying it." Beast Boy pointed out. Surprise flashed across her face and it was followed by another smile. _She's got a pretty smile._ He thought to himself as she nodded.

"Alright…well…I guess you could say that I want the things my mother never had."

It was Beast Boy's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Whaddaya mean?"

Raven was quiet for a few minutes as they walked. Beast Boy figured she was rephrasing things to where he could understand. He was by no means stupid, but he comprehended things a bit differently than most people, which he was sure she knew by now. It wasn't until they reached the sole bridge in the park (some minutes later) that she spoke.

"I don't know all the details, but what I know is that my mother…ran away from home when she was fifteen because she didn't like how oppressive her religious parents were. What she ran to however…was a demon worshipping cult that disguised itself as a home for orphans and runaways. All the kids they took in were sacrificed in some form or another in rituals to please demons. My mother was no exception. She was offered up to Trigon and he…well, he raped her. Afterwards she fled the cult, fled the city, and somehow fled this dimension to hide in Azarath. Once there, she gave birth to me, cared for me for a short time, then left me with the monks as she became one. And then some time after I left Azarath, she, along with everyone else, died. She more or less didn't have a life, really."

That was _not_ the answer Beast Boy had been expecting and he could only stop and stare at her slack jawed.

When she saw this, Raven gave him a very soft smile. "What I'm trying to say is that everything my mother didn't have, I want. Happiness, a home, love, a family…stuff like that. You know…what every _normal_ person wants."

Beast Boy gazed out over the lamp-lit water of the large pond they overlooked, digesting what she said. It wasn't even remotely close to what he thought she meant and it was so… _normal_ …that he had a hard time wrapping his mind around it. He thought maybe she meant like, having her own library full of magic books and spooky statues or something magicky like that. Ya know, typical Raven stuff. Not…this. "So…what? You want a husband and kids?"

"Weeellll….I _do_ have a home, I'm working on happiness, and as for love…" Raven trailed off as she looked at him. "I'm working on that too. So…one day, yes, I would like those things. Not anytime soon, obviously, but I still want them nonetheless."

"That's thinking an awfully long ways off Rae." Beast Boy muttered thoughtfully. He had never thought that far ahead, heck, he had never even thought a _month_ ahead of time. He had always lived day to day and had been happy that way. Raven was thinking _years,_ maybe _decades,_ ahead. He thought it was kinda crazy…but it was kinda cool too. He really shouldn't be surprised that she thinks like this though, she always did have a better grasp on bigger picture kind of stuff. It was kinda enviable, if he was honest with himself. He didn't really have the attention span for that kind of thing. "Pretty serious too."

"Well, of course it is. I'm _free_."

"Huh?" Beast Boy said, turning to look at her.

His heart stopped.

Raven was standing there in the dim light, her hair brushed back behind one ear, gazing up into the stars above them as she leaned onto the bridge rail. She had a smile on her face, a smile unlike _any_ he had ever seen before.

"I'm _free_." She said simply, still looking up. "Trigon is _gone_. I don't have to restrain my emotions anymore. I can laugh, I can cry, I can get mad, I can get excited, cry, shout, jump for joy, whatever I want. I can _do_ whatever I want. I don't have to live in fear of hurting anyone anymore. I don't have to keep people at arms length. I can go shopping with Starfire, I can work on the T-Car with Cyborg, I can train with Robin, all _without fear_ of expressing too much and hurting them. I can go on a date with you without fear of hurting you from the sheer volume of happiness that fills me. I'm _free_ , Beast Boy."

When Raven turned that smile towards him, Beast Boy forgot how to think. All he could see was her smiling face and it left him in a speechless awe. No one, _especially_ not a girl interested in him, had ever smiled at him like that.

 _Wow._

"Beast Boy?" She asked, leaning in towards him. Her lips pressed together as she got closer and it made him snap back to reality.

"Garfield." He all but sputtered.

Raven stopped, raising her eyebrow yet again. "Your name? What about it?"

"Y-you can call me by my name." Beast Boy stammered, mentally scolding himself for being as smooth as a cheese grater.

She looked shocked. "I… thought you hated your name?"

"I do, but…if its you, it'll be okay." He admitted, looking away embarrassingly. In truth, it was starting to feel weird being called Beast Boy while on a date with someone who legitimately knew him. They weren't out as teammates, but as two people seeing about being in a relationship, so she can totally use his name.

Plus, his heart was beating pretty hard and he couldn't think straight. Raven was just so…overwhelming right now.

 _I don't think I was this way around Terra._

"How about Gar?"

Beast Boy jerked his head back towards Raven. "Huh?"

She was still pretty close, so her amusement was clear in her smile and eyes. "Well, you're always calling me Rae instead of Raven, so how about I call you Gar instead of Garfield?"

Beast Boy nodded dumbly. "Okay."

Raven gave him a little laugh and leaned against him, looking out over the water. Beast Boy looked out too, his mind reeling.

 _Holy shit dude, Raven just gave me a nickname!_

 _I know, right?!_

 _And she's totes leaning on me!_

 _I know, right?!_

 _This is what a real date is like?!_

 _I…uh…don't know. Yes?_

"Gar?" Raven murmured.

"Uh…yeah?" Beast Boy mumbled back. _Real smooth, dumbass._

"Thank you."

"…for?"

"Giving me a chance."

Beast Boy turned his head and looked at her to find that she was looking back at him, another soft smile on her face and a look in her eyes that made him shiver.

"Uh, n-no prob Rae." He stammered. Gosh, could he say anything around her and NOT sound like a total dork?! Where'd all his smooth talking talents go tonight?!

 _What smooth talking?_ The voice in his head snickered. _We've never been able to really think straight. We have ADHD, so being able to formulate a consistent series of flirtatious banter has never been a strong point of ours. It's not exactly easy to focus-_

 _I know that dude! I've always just kinda gone with the flow ya know?_

 _Well no shit Sherlock, I'm-_

 _Wait, is she leaning in closer?_ He thought as he noticed that she was indeed moving towards him. She licked her lips and he gulped. _What is she-_

"Stop, thief!"

Both teens jerked their heads up to see a woman chasing a much faster man through the park. Even in the dim light it was easy to tell that he had snatched her purse (the damn thing glittered like crazy every time he went under a light pole).

"Of course something has to come along and ruin the moment." Raven sighed in exasperation before lifting her hand towards the man. Beast Boy watched as a wall of shadows formed in front of him and then watched him run into it face first. The was a loud CRACK as the mans nose shattered before a THUD after he fell backwards.

"Guess we better go turn him in." Beast Boy said nervously. He still wasn't certain what Raven was going to do a moment ago, but his heart and mind were still racing too much to think straight.

"I suppose so." Raven grumbled quietly as they took flight towards the man. "Stupid clamjamming prick."

 _What's a clamjam?_ Beast Boy wondered to himself.

* * *

As it would turn out, the purse snatched was a bigger catch than they thought; he was wanted for two suspected murders, a half dozen burglaries, two assault and batteries, violating his parole multiple times, and jaywalking. And _apparently,_ he had stolen the purse because he was low on cash and thought an easy score or two in the park would set him right.

"Idiot." Raven muttered as they walked out of the police station. They had been made to come in and fill out some paperwork, which took about forty five minutes when combined with taking statements and checking on the victims state of mind, blah blah blah. Beast Boy, who _hated_ paperwork, was totally annoyed by the whole thing.

"That was a total mood killer right there." He complained as they walked down the sidewalk.

"Agreed." Raven nodded. "Almost makes me want to go home."

"You and me both."

Raven paused and looked at him in disappointment. "Was our date that bad?"

"What?! Don't be crazy! Heck no dude, this has been one of the best nights of my life!" Beast Boy laughed. "I enjoyed this more than my date with Terra!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Beast Boy realized that bringing up another girl during a date was not only taboo, but a _really_ screwed up thing to do in front of Raven. He knew she had a few confidence issues. What if she got mad at him for talking about the girl he used to love? What if she got upset that he still thought about Terra? What if-

"Really?" She asked simply, looking surprised.

Beast Boy's mind blanked at her rather odd reaction. "Uh…yeah dude. Promise."

Raven smiled at him once more and he felt his face warm up. _Man, she's got a beautiful smile. Why haven't I seen that before?_ He pondered idly.

"Thank you Gar." She said softly.

 _Jesus, I could get used to hearing that_ _name._ Beast Boy thought happily as he nodded dumbly again. _I've never had a girl call me by a nickname before, except for BB. But…this is way different than that. It feels…nice…_

They walked in silence for a few minutes, Beast Boy lost in the fluttering in his stomach and Raven quietly observing their surroundings, a little smile on her face.

"I suppose we could go home." Raven said a few minutes later. "It's not like we couldn't do this again…right?"

Beast Boy stared at her for a moment, noting the hopeful look on her face. It almost sounded like she wanted to go on a _second_ date with him, despite having done very little on _this_ date. All they did was talk!

Did she really enjoy herself that much?

"Uh…yeah, sure." He nodded. Raven gave him another smile before they sunk into the ground.

* * *

Within moments, they resurfaced back in the tower. They were in front of Raven's room, in fact.

"You know…this date doesn't have to end just yet." Raven said shyly, looking away with her cheeks starting to turn red. "We could…I don't know…sit in my room and talk?"

"You want to talk _more?_ " Beast Boy asked, surprised. For a girl who was normally as quiet as a mouse, she had been pretty talkative today. It wasn't bad, but he wasn't used to it.

"Yes! Well…actually…" She turned to face him and the look in her eyes screamed _hunger_ (but for _what_ , he had no idea, just like he had no idea why her clothes turned maroon for a second). She licked her lips amd a sweet scent filled the air. "Maybe we could…get our knees dirty?"

 _Get our knees dirty?_ Beast Boy thought to himself. _Surely she doesn't mean…_

He shook his head. "Sorry Rae, it wouldn't be fair."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "It wouldn't? How?"

"You could never beat me in a game of Twister!" He laughed. "I'm too flexible!"

Raven stared at him for a long moment, confusion on her face, before speaking. "What's twister?"

Beast Boy stopped laughing and stared back at her, himself now confused. "Its…um…a kind of board game…where you gotta touch dots with your hands and feet and stuff…and…yeah…"

Raven continued to stare at him and he found himself feeling like a dummy.

"Um…yeah, nevermind." He said, reaching up to rub the back of his neck in embarrassment. "I'll just…go now."

"Um…okay." Raven bit her lip for a moment before stepping forward and wrapping her arms around him. Beast Boy stood there in shock for a second (feeling a sense of déjà vu) before wrapping his arms around her too.

Raven smelled _really_ good and she was surprisingly soft in his arms. Her epic boobs were pressed against his chest too, making it hard to think (Not that that sweet scent was helping, where the heck did it come from anyways?). Looking down from where his head was on her shoulder, he could see his hands mere inches away from that magnificent ass of hers.

He gulped as he fought down baser instincts.

When Raven finally pulled away, she had that smile on her face again.

"Goodnight Garfield." She said softly before she sashayed into her room.

"Um…goodnight Raven." Beast Boy mumbled back as he stared at her butt before the door closed.

* * *

It was a long trip back to his room and a quiet one too. He had a _lot_ to think about.

Raven had told him a lot in the past couple of hours, waaaaaaaaaay more than he thought she would. And Raven _never_ talked much unless she was serious about something. So…does that mean she's seriously interested in him? She must be, she smiled soooo much tonight and _that_ was rarer than her talking a lot. So…if she was serious about wanting to go on dates with him…that would mean that he needs to be serious about going on dates with her. After all, he _did_ enjoy himself tonight, even if the date was cut short and all they did was talk. He didn't think he'd ever enjoyed a conversation that wasn't about video games before tonight. It was weird.

He sat in his room for several hours, mulling all of this over and over and over.

But when he finally lay down to sleep, he realized something: He wanted to see that smile again.

No, wait.

He _needed_ to see that smile again.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Heya guys amd gals, sorry this one took a month. I couldn't get it satisfactory until recently snd I was working on my other story Those Violet Eyes too, which is up four chapter from its hiatus. Hope you like this one!**_

* * *

When Beast Boy woke up, he was nothing less than _excited_ to be awake. He was a man with a plan, a super duper splendiferous awesometastic plan if he might say so himself, to take Raven out on a date like she'd never been on before! He could _totally_ get her to smile with this date!

He rolled out of bed, noting that his clock read 7:52, which was way earlier than he usually got up, unless it was for training. The first thing he did was hop over to his (rarely used) desk and open the top drawer. He rummaged around in there, tossing out old game pamphlets, candy wrappers, and faded receipts until he found what he was looking for: his old wallet. He opened it up and peered inside. Business cards for different stores (these he put aside to go in his more recent wallet), a few photos with some cute fangirls (these he tossed to the side, uninterested), a video rental shop phone number (stashed in his newer wallet too) and-aha! There it is! His Doom Patrol debit card! It was exactly where he finally remembered it being. He looked at the date on it, then glanced at his calendar on the wall.

 _I got about, what, two months before I need a new one?_ He pondered as he slipped it into his current wallet. _Not that I ever used it for much. Don't really like spending Steve and Rita's money, even IF it's technically my 'allowance' for being their adopted son. But on the other hand…now I don't have to be careful with the weekly allowance the city gives us, now do I?_

This was a cheerful thought. He wouldn't have to worry about spending money on Raven anymore, 'cause there was like a gazillion dollars in his Doom Patrol account. Heck, when he turns eighteen he gets what's left of his inheritance that his birth parents left him too, so money won't be an issue. He could get her some nice things, like flowers. Girls like flowers, right? Yeah. He could get Raven some flowers. Wait, he doesn't know what kind of flowers she likes. Maybe Starfire knows?

Humming to himself, Beast Boy pulled off his pajamas and put on a clean uniform. It was, in fact, his last clean uniform, which meant he needed to do laundry. No, wait. _Cyborg_ needed to do his laundry.

He snickered to himself as he walked out of his room and into the hallway. Today Cy would start cleaning his room while he took Raven out on a date. It was totally a win-win situation.

* * *

Truth be told, Beast Boy didn't really care about the funny looks Thunder, Lightning, and Hotspot gave him as he skipped through the halls. He was just in too good of a mood. All he could think about was making Raven smile again. She had a beautiful smile and he really wanted to see it. He _knew_ he could get her to smile if he tried hard enough. It was funny though cause, like, out of the gazillion jokes he'd told her over the past couple of years none of them had made her smile. Well, that time he and Cy had gone into her mind by accident had shown him that she _did_ laugh at him and did like him enough to do so. She had also laughed at the very first joke he'd told when they all met. He wondered why she didn't laugh at him more often before yesterday?

 _Hey dummy, did you forget about her dad?_

 _Oh yeah…_

With that internal crisis solved, he wondered if Raven was up yet. He was hungry.

The common room doors opened and he hopped inside. "Morning guys!"

The first thing he saw was Robin's head snap to him and stare in disbelief.

"Beast Boy? What are you doing awake so early?" His team leader asked.

"Too wound up to sleep." Beast Boy chuckled as he made his way to the kitchen. There were a bunch of Titans there, several of the girls gathered around something he couldn't see. Red Star was pouring himself a cup of coffee close by, Pantha right next to him. He heard her laugh at something Red said. And standing at the stove was…

"Cy?" He said in shock, not believing what he was seeing.

Cyborg glanced at him sullenly and Beast Boy's jaw dropped a little more. Cyborg had been painted hot pink and had a black tutu glued around his waist. There was clown makeup on his face, a big red frown and a rubber nose included. On his head was a paper maché horn, painted white, with a jingly bell on it. There was also a unicycle glued to his butt and rubber ducks glued to the tops of his feet. It almost looked like he'd been hazed again.

"Mornin' grass stain. You're up early." Cy said before turning back to the stove. Beast Boy made his way to his friend, dodging around Speedy and Aqualad (who didn't look too happy for some reason).

"Dude, what happened to you?" He asked as he reached his buddy.

"Karma." Cy deadpanned as he flipped some bacon in the skillet.

"For what?"

"Yesterday."

Beast Boy stared at his friend, digesting what he said for a long moment before he grinned. "Guess that's what you get for calling me a liar, huh?"

Cyborg merely grunted and continued cooking. Beast Boy chuckled to himself. _Once a sore loser, always a sore loser._

"So how was it?"

Beast Boy blinked a few times in slight confusion. "How was what?"

Cy glanced at him, eyebrow raised. "Your date with Raven?"

"Oh!" Beast Boy facepalmed. "It was great! Well, we did more talking than anything, er, well, _Raven_ talked mostly and I listened, then we went to the park and ended up catching some purse snatcher that turned out to be, like, super wanted and stuff, and it totally killed the mood so we came back here and turned in for the night."

Cy's eyebrow rose higher. "That's it?"

Beast Boy nodded. "Yup."

"Not tryin' to be mean BB, but that's not much of a date."

He nodded again. "Yeah I know, so I'm gonna take her out today to make up fer last night."

Cyborg stared at him for a moment, then shrugged. "Do what you do, BB. Just treat her right."

"Don't worry dude, I got this." Beast Boy grinned and gave his buddy a thumbs up. "Seen Rae this morning?"

Cyborg jerked his head to the left. "She's over there surrounded by the other girls. Good luck getting to her."

"Cool. Don't forget to clean my room." He chuckled again.

All Cy did was grunt in annoyance.

Beast Boy looked over at the gaggle of girls and frowned. He couldn't even _see_ Raven, but that was mostly because Starfire and Jinx were in the way. He could hear a lot of excited chattering amongst them, enough to make it difficult to understand what they were saying. His frown deepened. How was he supposed to ask Raven out on another date if she couldn't hear him?

 _Maybe I should scare them?_ He mused, thinking of all kinds of so called 'creepy crawlies' that girls usually run from.

 _Not a good idea._

 _Why not?_

 _What if you scare Raven off?_

This made Beast Boy pause. _But…she's not scared of stuff like that._

 _She denied being afraid when we watched Wicked Scary. Who's to say that she isn't denying being afraid of more stuff?_

… _huh…good point…_

 _Just go over and talk to her. We don't have to be a goofy prankster all the time, ya know._

 _Ya think so?_

 _Ayup._

Beast Boy hummed to himself again before making his way over there. The closer he got, the more he hear from the girls and the more he could determine via scent. Most of them were curious, one was in disbelief (probably Jinx), one was happy (obviously Starfire) , and one was annoyed (definitely Raven).

"Alright you buzzards, shoo! Shoo!" He said loudly, waving his hands at the assembled girls. As one the girls whirled around, surprised to see him up this early. Smugly he pushed his way through them to find an equally surprised Raven standing there with a cooling cup of tea. She smiled at him, making his heart skip a few beats.

"Good morning Gar. You're up early." She said, sipping her tea.

 _Say something cool and suave._

 _Suave? Like the shampoo?_

 _No you dumbass, something romantic-y and flirty!_

Beast Boy said the first thing that came to mind. "Mornin' beautiful!"

Raven choked on her tea and he didn't have the faintest idea why.

"Damn, Beast Boy, it was only one date!" Bumblebee shook her head.

Beast Boy turned and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "So? Raven's a beautiful girl. If we're gonna go on dates and stuff, shouldn't I say 'Good morning beautiful' to her every morning?"

He got his answer in the form of blank stares, so he just snorted in disbelief at them. This isn't rocket mathematics: you got a pretty girl, you tell her she's pretty every day. Simple, just like he likes.

Of course, the immense blush on Raven's face made him remember that Raven isn't used to being flirted with. He chuckled sheepishly. "Heh, well, at least that's how I see it."

"I…don't mind." She said quietly as she looked away while tugging her hood up to hide her face. Without really knowing why, Beast Boy reached out and flicked the very peak of said hood, making it fall back around her neck. She stared at him in surprise.

"Come on, we're gonna go get breakfast!" He said, motioning for her to follow him.

"We are?" Raven with wide eyes. Beast Boy started to say yes, but that little voice in the back of his head spoke up again.

 _Dude, ASK her out, don't TELL her you're going out. Focus, stupid, focus!_

"Uh, well…do you wanna get breakfast with me?" Beast Boy asked, thinking it really was better this way after a quick consideration.

"I would love to." Raven replied, her smile widening. "Where are we going?"

"Waffle House!" Beast Boy said proudly. He knew Raven liked waffles, so this would totally get him some brownie points. Raven looked at him oddly for a moment before she moved past him and dumped what was left of her tea in the sink. She rinsed her cup out and put it in the dishwasher, then turned back to Beast Boy.

"Ready when you are." She said, though her face was still a little flushed.

Beast Boy's grin widened considerably. "Alrighty then! Let's-"

"Woah woah woah, hold on a second!"

Both Beast Boy and Raven turned to look at Jinx, who had her arms crossed across her chest and an irritated look on her face.

"You went on _one_ date, which ended when it was barely _starting_ , and you're already going on _another_?" She asked, unable to keep the incredulity and irritation out of her voice.

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Yes. Is that a problem for you?"

"That's not how these things work! You're supposed to wait a few days before you go on another date!" Jinx spat. Beast Boy raised an eyebrow too.

"Why?" He asked. "Me and Rae have known each other for years, we just have to get to know each other on a personal level now. I've been trying for _years_ to get Raven to open up to us, and if _this_ is how it happens, I _ain't_ gonna complain. Rae's an _awesome_ girl, she just hides under her cloak too much for people to know. I mean, seriously dude, I know I'm not the smartest person around and I have attention problems, but even I know that going on dates with beautiful girl and getting to know her doesn't require rocket mathematics. Mountains and molehill, guys."

There was dead silence in the room for several minutes as _everyone_ stared at him. He really didn't know why they were acting this way. Maybe what he said was too complicated for them to understand? He didn't know how that could be the case, he just made it all up as he went along. It felt right, though.

"Garfield…"

Beast Boy looked to Raven to find a fresh blush on her face. _Why is she blushing again?_ He pondered as he answered her. "Yeah?"

"C-can we just go?" She stammered, looking at the floor and fidgeting with the hem of her cloak.

"Sure." He replied. _She's kinda cute like that._

They then sank into the floor via Raven's magic, but not before Beast Boy heard several things.

"You hear that, Kid? _Raven_ is getting a _second_ date."

"I…uh…um…"

"Are you not happy for our friends, Robin? They are going on a _date_. It sounds like _so much fun_ , don't you think?"

"I…uh…um…"

* * *

They reappeared in the park, towards the northern end this time. This is where the restaurants were, including the obligatory Mom and Pops diners, Olive Garden (he needed to take Raven there one day), and Chuck E. Cheese.

"Are you sure you want to eat at Waffle House?" Raven asked. "I don't know if they'd have vegetarian food…"

Beast Boy grinned. "Even if they don't, they have waffles!"

Raven glanced at him before she shook her head with another smile. "You're just brown-nosing now, aren't you?"

"What can I say, you have a nice butt." Beast Boy laughed.

Then he realized what he said.

 _CHRIST, WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!_

 _You sir, are an idiot._

Beast Boy gulped and glanced at Raven, who was…hiding beneath her cloak? He couldn't see anything of her face but those pretty eyes of hers and _they_ looked kind of… _sad_? Why?

"Uh…Rae? I didn't mean it like that, I was just kidding around." He said nervously. He _really_ hoped he hadn't just offended her by being a perv. He totally wasn't a pervert. Well, he didn't think he was one, even though he had rubbed more than a few out over the years thinking about Raven.

"I don't have a nice butt." Raven said softly. "Its…flabby."

"Huh?" Beast Boy said, leaning closer. "Flabby?"

Raven suddenly shook her head and the sadness vanished. "Nevermind. Come along, lets go eat."

Beast Boy hesitated for a moment and wondered what that was all about. Could it be one of those body image issues she had? Maybe he should compliment her more…

With that thought in mind, he followed her all the way up to Waffle House, though he darted in front of her to open the door. She gave him a little smile before entering. Once inside, they chose a corner booth away from everyone else. It gave them a little privacy, at least until the waitress came over.

"Why hello there! Never thought I'd see a Teen Titan come in here, let alone two!" She said. She was an older woman, thick with blonde hair pulled back in a pony tail and a little too much make up on. Her nametag read Peggy. "What can I get you?"

"Two waffles, toast, and a plate of hashbrowns, crispy!" Beast Boy said as he looked over the menu. "And orange juice to drink!"

"Alrighty darlin'." Peggy said as she jotted his order down on a little notebook. She looked at Raven. "What about you, Miss Raven?"

Raven, who was still looking at the menu, responded slowly. "How about…the two eggs…scrambled with cheese…toast…and a side of bacon?"

"Alrighty. What do you want to drink?"

Raven looked up hopefully. "I don't suppose you have tea to drink, do you?"

Peggy smiled. "Why of course! All Waffle Houses carry sweet tea!"

The empath furrowed her brow. "That's not real-"

But Peggy had already zipped off, giving their order to the cook and bustling about with other customers. Raven watched her for a moment before frowning and sighing in annoyance.

"Sweet tea ain't that bad, Rae." Beast Boy said with a chuckle.

"Says you." Raven huffed.

Beast Boy laughed this time and Raven just rolled her eyes.

"So, whaddaya wanna talk about today?" He asked a moment later as he looked around the diner.

"Honestly? I don't know. I wasn't expecting another date so soon." Raven admitted sheepishly.

Beast Boy looked back at her, a little surprised. "Really? Why?"

"Well…" She hesitated, then gave a little shrug as she looked away. "My thinking was along the lines of what Jinx was saying. I figured you wouldn't want another date for a few days if I was lucky, since ours was cut short last night."

Beast Boy shrugged in turn. "Nah, I'm used to crime interrupting stuff we're doing at home, so I can get used to it interrupting our dates."

Raven looked sharply at him. "Dates? As in, plural form? More than one or two?"

He gave her a big cheeky smile. "Sure, why not! I don't have a reason to say no to a pretty girl like you, Rae."

Raven's cheeks colored and she looked down at the table. "I can't tell if you're calling me pretty because you mean it or if you're just brown nosing…" She murmured.

"A bit of both." Beast Boy laughed. Raven's blush darkened a little, but their attention was drawn away from the conversation as Peggy returned with their drinks, then darted off to help a new customer. Beast Boy immediately snagged a straw and popped it into his orange juice, taking a good swig.

"Ah, tasty!" He licked his lips. He wondered if Raven liked her sweet tea, so he glanced at her and nearly choked on his own drink.

Raven's face was screwed up in what could only be described as _absolute horror_ as she pulled the glass down. "By Azar, it's so sweet!" She groaned.

Beast Boy grabbed a napkin and wiped up the little bit he spilled, not bothering to hide his smile at her expression. He wondered if she knew he hated the tea she normally drank. _That_ stuff was nasty as hell-

 _Dude, what if we swapped drinks with her?_ That voice in his head asked.

 _Huh?_

 _Dude, you've seen her drink orange juice before and you kinda like sweet tea, so why not swap with her? She'll get a drink with breakfast and so will you, so its kind of a win win situation._

Beast Boy pondered this as Raven slid the cup away from her, a disgusted look on her face.

 _You know, dude, that sounds like a good idea._ He thought to himself.

Imagine the look of surprise on Raven's face when he grabbed her drink and swapped with his own. She looked at the cup in front of her, then back at him.

He grinned cheekily at her. " _Orange_ ya gonna say thank you?"

Raven's hand came up and covered her face in exasperation. "Garfield, of all the bad jokes you've told, that one might have been in the _worst_."

He couldn't help but laugh at her before reaching for the orange juice again. "Well, if you don't want it-"

He was cut off by Raven's hand as it snatched the drink up and brought it to her lips. He almost laughed at her reaction, but that too was cut off as Raven gave the straw a good long lick while staring at him. It was almost…sexual. But it obviously wasn't, this is Raven after all.

"How does that saying go?" Raven murmured. " _I licked it, so it's mine_."

"Sure is, Rae." Beast Boy chuckled. Raven gave him a smile that gave him goosebumps and they sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes. Fortunately enough, their food arrived soon and they dug in.

"Gar? Can I ask you something?"

Beast Boy looked up from his waffles. "Yeah?"

"Yesterday you said your parents died when you were six…so I was wondering…how did you end up with the Doom Patrol?"

Beast Boy paused for a moment before stuffing some waffle in his mouth. That wasn't really a story he enjoyed telling. Actually, he _hated_ telling that story. It was nothing but bad memories of the darkest part of his life and he wished he could forget them.

But then again…Raven would understand what he went through.

"Well, for starters, my mom and dad were biologists that were studying reverse evolution, trying to bring back extinct species and stuff." He said before taking another bite and chewing. "So, they traveled the world a lot and wound up settling in Africa, where I was born. They made-"

"Wait wait wait wait." Raven interrupted him, a surprised look on her face. "You're from _Africa_?"

Beast Boy nodded. "Yep. Born and raised there for the first ten years of my life."

Raven shook her head. "Wow, I wasn't aware you weren't from the US."

Beast Boy shrugged as he took another bite of waffle. "That's 'cause you're the first person to know."

"I see…" Raven said slowly before biting into a piece of toast. When she didn't continue, he did.

"Yeah, so…my parents traveled a lot, so they made a lot of friends. One of them was the chieftain of a tribe near where we lived. One of this tribesmen came by every few days to check on us, 'cause both my parents knew medicine and stuff, which made then kinda popular with the tribe. Anyways, after my parents died, I had no idea what to do, so I kinda just sat in camp and cried myself to sleep a few times. When the tribesmen finally came by I was starving and dehydrated, so he brought me back to the tribe. The chief nursed me back to health and I told him what happened to me and my parents, cause I only had my powers for about two days before my parents died." Beast Boy paused for a sip of sweet tea. It was good.

"How _did_ you get your powers?" Raven asked.

"Eh, some weird green monkey with a nasty disease bit me, so my dad injected some experimental serum in me that turned me into a copy of that monkey until the disease died. Turning green was a side effect."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "That's…unusual."

Beast Boy shrugged. "I thought it was kinda cool at the time. Anyways, I wound up staying with the tribe for a couple of weeks until my Uncle Galtry showed up to get my dad's research report. Now, he wasn't _really_ my Uncle, but he had known my dad for like, ever, so I called him Uncle Galtry. When he found out what happened, he went to our camp and gathered up all our stuff, then came back and got me. I left the tribe and lived with him for a while."

"That…doesn't sound too bad." Raven said as she ate the last of her eggs.

"Yeah, except that Galtry was a _wanted criminal_." Beast Boy pushed some hashbrown around on his plate, really dreading this next part. "I'm not gonna lie to you, Rae. He made me commit crimes for him. A little green kid who could turn into animals was a _goldmine_ to someone like him. We poached endangered rhinos, stole from mines, robbed drug dealers, all kinds of stuff. It was…it was bad. _Really_ bad. I watched him kill people. I watched him butcher animals and sell their parts while leaving the meat to spoil. I saw so many animal bodies just lying around that I got to where I couldn't eat meat without seeing one of them and then seeing _me_ laying on the ground in their place. Galtry didn't care though. All he cared about was money. And telling Galtry 'No' was a _bad_ idea, especially if he was drunk. I can't tell you how many times he broke a bone or two before I learned how to just say yes sir."

He glanced up to see her staring at him slack jawed. He just shrugged again.

"I know, I could have left. But I didn't have anywhere else to go. And who would want a green kid anyways? I used to get so many nasty looks and curses thrown my ways that you'd think I was carrying the plague or something. And this went on for about four years before…" He trailed off, his mind recoiling from the memories up next. He couldn't suppress a shudder and a grimace, both of which he was sure Raven saw.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." Raven said softly, one hand coming up to grasp one of his. "I won't force you, let alone ask you, to bring up something that I can sense causes you so much pain."

He gave her a little smile. "Thanks Rae. Anyways, uh…I was about ten and a half when the Doom Patrol moved into a mansion nearby from where I was living. When I saw that they were superheroes and metahumans just like me, I knew I had to join them. So I snuck out over and over again and pestered them whenever I could. Eventually, though, I got caught sneaking out. I got punished….harshly. So much so that Mento to felt my pain from their house and stormed over and rescued me. Soon after that, I was in their custody. And well…you can guess the rest."

Raven gave him a little nod and planted her eyes on her food as they continued eating in silence. Her hand never left his, but he wasn't complaining. Her hand was soft and felt kinda small in his. It was a nice feeling. It wasn't until they were done eating that Raven spoke again.

"You've hid a lot of pain behind that smile." She murmured. "I've always known that you weren't telling us things about yourself, but I thought it was something lighter, like you were a bullying victim. I never thought that you had been through so much…"

"I don't like talking about it." He admitted as he idly ran his thumb across Raven's. "It's a very serious thing, and I don't like being serious."

"I understand."

Beast Boy couldn't help but to give Raven a smile. He knew she would understand what he was saying without him saying it. She'd been through enough that she knew what he had gone through, even if it was different from what she'd experienced.

"Gar." She said suddenly. "Lets go do something fun."

He raised an eyebrow. "Your fun or my fun?"

"Your fun." Raven gave him another smile, this one so warm that he felt his heart skip a beat. " I've had a distinctive lack of fun in my life, so I need someone to teach me how. I can't promise I'll enjoy everything, but I am willing to try anything at least once."

Beast Boy felt his smile grow. "Say no more, Rae. I know just the place to go."

They got up and paid for their meal soon after that, heading out the door and taking a sharp right. Beast Boy knew _exactly_ where he wanted to go: the FunLand ball pit. He had never been in there before cause he could never get anyone to go with him. But now…now he had _Raven_.

And her hand felt _just right_ in his own.


	11. Chapter 11

_**I took this chapter apart three times before I was happy with it. Lol. Guest character incoming too!**_

* * *

"Funland?" Raven asked, her eyebrow raised.

Beast Boy grinned. "Yeah!"

"I am genuinely surprised you wanted to come here." Raven said, looking over the big blue building in front of them. "I thought this place was for kids."

"Well, yeah. Sort of. I mean, there's an arcade in there, but it ain't as good as the one at Pizza Planet. But I'm taking you a different part." Beast Boy could feel his grin growing. He was getting excited. It was his first time coming here and he got to bring a girl too! He was the luckiest guy on the planet right now!

Raven was, like him, ignoring the strange looks the passing civilians were giving them as they stood there, but she was giving _him_ a weird look. "What's in here that's so fun?"

"You'll see!" He all but shouted as he drug her towards the door. Which was _locked_.

"Huh?" Beast Boy said, confused. "Dude, why's it locked?"

"Probably because it doesn't open until this afternoon." Raven said as she pointed at a sign in the window. It read _OPEN: 2pm to 11pm 7 days a week!_

Beast Boy frowned. "Guess we can't bring the kids here in the mornings then, huh?"

Raven's head snapped to him, eyes wide. "K-kids? Whose kids?!"

He gave her a funny look. "Melvin, Timmy, and Teether?"

Raven visibly deflated. "Oh…"

He raised an eyebrow at her odd reaction. "They _are_ still at the tower, right? I mean, I haven't seen them but I didn't see them leave either. I figured we could check it out and see if it was good for them too while we were here…"

"No, I had to send them back to their monastery after the battle." Raven shook her head. "But we can check it out anyways."

"Not til this afternoon." Beast Boy sighed. He had really been looking forward to this, it was a great way to see if Raven could handle a bit of silly fun. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Raven glance at him and frown. Then she looked at the door, eyes glowing. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow until her eyes returned to normal.

"Wait for it." She said quietly.

His eyebrow rose higher. "Wait for what-"

The door opened and a heavyset older man with greying black hair and a greying moustache poked his head out with a very confused look on his face.

"Can I…help you?" He said slowly before he recognized who he was speaking to. "Wait, you're Beast Boy and Raven of the Teen Titans! Is there something wrong? I've only been here an hour doing paperwork, so I didn't witness anything…"

Beast Boy, more than a little flabbergasted with the appearance of the man, could only stare at him in surprise. Raven saw this and immediately took charge of the conversation.

"You _might_ be able to help us, but no, there isn't anything _wrong_ , per say." She said with a small shake of her head. "It's more of a… _personal_ …request than anything."

The man stepped out and leaned on the door. "I'll help you any way I can, Miss Raven. I know more than a few kids that the two of you have saved, as well as their parents."

"Alright. Now, this is going to sound a little silly…but," Raven hesitated as her cheeks flushed. "We're sort of… _on a date_ …and Garf-um, Beast Boy, wanted to show me this place but he didn't know it didn't open until this afternoon. We're usually on the clock twenty-four-seven, so we are remarkably lucky to have this downtime right now. If it's not too much trouble…could you perhaps let us in for a little bit? I'm not very good with crowds of people…"

The man stared at her for a moment before he glanced at Beast Boy, his lips twitching upwards as he struggled to not smile. "Well… _I_ can't say yes, but let me call the owner real quick and see if its okay."

Both teens nodded and he stepped back inside. Beast Boy immediately turned to Raven.

"Dude, how'd you do that?!" He exclaimed.

Raven gave him a little smile. "I sensed that someone was in there and that they were pretty bored. Usually when someone's mind is like that, its easy to distract them. In his case, I telepathically flicked his mind with the thought that there was someone standing outside the store door."

Beast Boy stared at her, slack jawed. "Dude…that's so cool…"

Raven shrugged. "It just a basic telepathy trick. Nothing special at all."

"Says you." The Changeling chuckled. "You're pretty special to me."

Raven turned red again ( _Why did her cloak turn gray?_ He wondered) and her hands came up to raise her hood once more as she looked away. Beast Boy just chuckled. She could go from confident and talkative to shy and quiet in the blink of an eye. It was odd but kinda funny and cute too.

Within a couple of minutes the door reopened and the man stepped out grinning.

"Come on in!" He said, holding the door open. "Everything but the concession stand is open to you, but that's because we can't let food sit out long due to food service regulations."

"Thank you!" Both teens said as they stepped in.

"Now, I won't be able to watch you two, I still have work to do, so please be careful and _behave_." The man said before he walked away, presumably to his office. The last part of what he said seemed to be directed at Beast Boy, though he wasn't sure why. Raven merely tolled her eyes.

Shrugging, he grabbed Raven's hand and drug her to the back of the store, where he knew the ball pit was.

"Where are we going, Gar?" Raven asked as she looked around.

"To the best part of this place!" Beast Boy said excitedly. He heard Raven hum to herself as he drug her along and it only made his smile grow. She really was gonna met him drive this crazy train.

"Ta da!" He shouted a couple of minutes later when they reached their destination.

Raven stared at it for a moment, then turned to him. "…a pool full of plastic balls?"

"Yuuuuup!" Beast Boy said as he lifted one foot up and started taking his shoe off. "Ball pits are _awesome_!"

Raven glanced at the pool then glanced at him. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"Heck yeah dude!" He laughed as he hopped to his other foot and took that shoe off too. When he was done he made a running jump and belly flopped into the ball pit. He immediately sank into the overwhelming number of balls and started rolling around in them. He only paused when he didn't hear Raven jump in too.

He popped his head out and shouted at her. "Come on, Rae!"

"Not exactly the balls I want to play with…" She muttered under her breath as she floated up out of her boots. Beast Boy wasn't sure what she was talking about. What balls does she want to play with? Baseballs? Basketballs? Oh, maybe skeeballs? Skeeball is fun, they could play that later.

Raven floated back to the floor, gave the ball pit one more dubious look, then shrugged and jumped in. Beast Boy laughed as he moved around like he was doing the doggy paddle. He could hear Raven moving around too, but she hadn't resurfaced yet.

"Raven? Whatcha think?" He said as she shifted around some more.

Said empath popped her head up out of the balls, a green one balanced perfectly on her head. Her face was screwed up in confusion. "Weird…yet satisfying? How does that even work, they're just plastic balls…"

Beast Boy laughed and grabbed a blue ball and tossed it at the one on Raven. She ducked back down and he missed, sending his ball skipping across the innumerable balls surrounding them. He scowled, but then yelped when Raven popped back up with several balls in hand and threw them at him.

He dived back under the balls and surged forward as he grabbed a whole armful of them and burst back onto the surface. He let a mighty 'AHA!' as he threw them all at Raven.

She ducked back under just in time and completely disappeared for a long moment. Beast Boy sat stone still as he listened for her, but he didn't hear anything. Sneaky girl must be teleporting-

 _Thonk!_ Went a ball against the back of his head. He whipped around, swinging his arm out wide and sending several balls flying. He heard Raven gasp before he saw her pull her cloak up to shield herself. Laughing, he shifted into a kangaroo and jumped up, then shifted into a bear and belly flopped down. Raven let out a small sigh before she was buried in a tsunami of balls. Beast Boy shifted back to himself and laughed again before he trudged his was over to where she was.

Only, she had disappeared… _again._

"Huh?" He said, looking around and scratching his head. _Now where did she go?_

There was a giggle behind him and he whipped around to find _pink_ cloaked Raven floating up towards the ceiling as hundreds and hundreds of black magic covered balls began floating around her. More and more were starting to glow before they too floated up to join the others.

Very soon, Beast Boy was left standing in an empty ball pit.

"You're right, Beast Boy! This is _fun!"_ Happy-Raven giggled as the glowing balls began to swirl around her like she was in the eye of a hurricane. Beast Boy could only gawk at the sight of Raven in the midst of the maelstrom of colors as she too twirled around while waving her hands in the air like she was orchestrating an opera. The balls began to split into groups of matching colors but kept up the spinning. Soon enough it was like looking into a pinwheel.

"Uh…Rae? That's not how you're supposed to play with those." Beast Boy couldn't help but to point out.

She stopped.

The balls stopped.

She looked at him, her cloak turning red.

 _Shit._ Beast Boy thought as he took a couple of steps back. He made her mad? How the hell did he do that?! All he said was-

"You know, Gar, I just had a thought." Raven said, bringing one hand up to tap her chin as she tilted her head. "There is a rather _large_ quantity of pranks that you've performed on me over the past couple of years that I never technically repaid you for."

 _DANGER WILL ROBINSON, DANGER DANGER!_ Beast Boy started backing away faster. "N-now hold on Rae-"

She smiled evilly. "Here's how this is going to work out…"

Beast Boy gulped and closed his eyes, preparing himself for the worst. _This wasn't what I was expecting to happen on a date…_

"Garfield, look at me."

He did as she said and looked right up at her. She stared down at him and the balls around her began to swarm menacingly. He gulped again. _This is gonna hurt._ He thought as he cringed.

Raven snorted. Her hand flew up to her mouth and covered it as she made a sound that sounded suspiciously like a giggle. He raised an eyebrow and she giggled even louder. While it was weird to hear her laugh like that, the mood swing was even weirder. What the heck is going on with her?

"Azar, you thought I was serious?" She laughed as her cloak turned pink again. "The look on your face is so serious too, it's so weird to see! Azar, this is priceless! Were you actually going to let me punish you?"

 _Damnit…I walked right into that…_ Beast Boy crossed his arms and scowled. "Well, yeah…I thought you were mad at me…"

"No Gar, I'm having fun." She said as she smiled at him. But it wasn't a _happy_ smile, no, it was a _mischievous_ one.

He had about three seconds to wonder what it was about before she dropped all the balls on him.

Surprisingly, it didn't hurt. Well, it stung his ears and his pride, but that was it. Raven, on the other hand, was still up above him giggling up a storm. She was _laughing_ at him, not because he told a funny joke ( _all_ of his jokes were funny in his opinion), but because she had performed a little prank of her own on him. How very in-Raven-like.

How…fun!

A plan formed in his mind as he 'swam' through the balls and started to shift. He became bigger and bigger, but was careful to not break the surface as he turned himself into a giant squid. When he figured he was below Raven, he struck like lightning.

"What the-" Raven yelped as his tentacles wrapped around her and pulled her down to the ball pit. "Nooooo, I'm not Japanese, I'm not into tentacles!"

Beast Boy, who wasn't entirely sure about what she was talking about, pulled her under the surface of the balls and shifted into a rock python, wrapping himself around her. His weight sank them to the floor of the pool, where Raven used her magic to make a sort of bubble around them, pushing the balls away.

Raven went from looking confused to intrigued, her cloak starting to darken until it was a purpley red. She looked up at him with a look that only be described as _hungry_ , which was weird in and of itself. "Oh? You just wanted to Slytherin to my chamber of secrets? Why didn't you say so?"

An increasingly confused Beast Boy shifted back into himself and looked down at the girl pinned below him. "Huh?"

"You've got me pinned down, Gar. What are you gonna do to me?" She purred up to him (which was REALLY weird). There seemed to be some sort of sweet scent coming from her and it was making him a little bit hot blooded.

Knowing it would be a good idea to distract himself before he embarrassed himself, Beast Boy did what he did best: he ruined a moment.

"I was gonna tickle you." He said with a grin.

The hungry look was instantly replaced with one of (mock?) horror. _"You wouldn't dare!"_

Beast Boy smiled before jabbing his fingers into her sides. Raven flinched but didn't laugh. Her lips did twitch upwards once though. He frowned and did it again on her ribs. Still nothing. Disbelief began to fill him. This was the first time he'd got to tickle someone and she wasn't even ticklish?! There had to _somewhere_ ticklish on her! He moved his hands from her sides to her arm pits and she didn't react (other than rolling her eyes). Her feet weren't ticklish either ( _she has tiny feet_ he noted) and _everyone_ is supposed to have ticklish feet! He wasn't gonna touch her anywhere though, that would be inappropriate and he wanted to keep what he had going with Raven as long as he could.

"Looks like I'm not ticklish." Raven said smugly. "Guess you'll have to stick me with something else to get a reaction."

Beast Boy sighed in disappointment and got off of Raven. A pout crossed her face before she too sat up. He looked around the dome of balls around them, having already lost interest in them. It was a novelty sort of fun, the kind that doesn't last long. Time for something else.

"As fun as this is, I still want to check out the rest of this place too. Want to check out the arcade since its just you and me?" He asked.

"If I don't have to play any dancing games, sure." Raven replied as she phased them through the floor and back to the poolside. The dome of balls collapsed upon itself as they put their shoes back on. Beast Boy, chuckling as the sight, grabbed Raven's hand and pulled her towards the arcade.

Once there, he immediately began looking around. There were shooting games, dancing games, racing games, sports, Skeeball, air hockey, crane games, and all kinds of other things there. He really didn't know what he wanted to play first.

"Gar, I think these all require coins…" Raven said as she inspected a machine. Beast Boy looked at it and saw that it was indeed a cash/card to token converter. He pulled out his debit card and popped it in. There were a few selections on the amount to get, so he went with the twenty since it looked about midway. This should last them a little while.

He scooped up the coins and deposited them into one of his belt pouches before looking around again. _What to play what to play…_

He glanced at Raven, who was inspecting a seated racing game close by. She didn't look very impressed and it made him chuckle 'cause he didn't really like racing games either. He just played them with Cy 'cause Cy loves them.

Something bright and flashy caught his attention and his eyes were drawn to a screen that read ALIEN. It was a shooting game with two plastic guns attached to cables. It might be kinda fun, at least for a few minutes.

"Wanna try this?" He asked, pointing to it. Raven turned and looked at it, her eyebrow raising.

"You want to play a game where you shoot _aliens?_ " She asked. "Wouldn't that be weird because…you know… _Starfire_ is an alien?"

He shook his head with a laugh. "No, see, I've shown a game like this to Star and she _blasted_ it. She said those aliens resembled something she'd seen before that were _horrible_ , so she actually _asked me_ to shoot as many as I could when gaming."

Raven's eyebrow rose a bit more, but she moved towards the game. Beast Boy followed right after her and popped some coins in.

* * *

As it would turn out, Raven wasn't half bad at shooting games. She had the reflexes to keep up with the aliens on screen and even kept her ammo count as high as possible by shooting off screen to reload it rather often. The part that she _wasn't_ good at was shooting them enough or in spots where it did next to no damage. She died three more times than he did before they reached the end credits.

"That was awesome." Beast Boy said as he holstered the toy gun. "That was _way_ better than playing with Cy and Rob. Cy always gets mad when he dies and I've _never_ beaten Rob's score. He's a little _too_ accurate with that gun."

Raven gave him a little smile as her hand came up and pressed her temple. "It was alright, I suppose. Not something I could find myself regularly playing tbough."

Beast Boy chuckled. "How about something else then? Skeeball?"

"I don't know what that is, but sure."

He led her to a trio of long tables with elevated ends. Each elevated end had a series of holes with painted numbers below them and little walls separating them.

"Okay dude, now to play this you gotta roll the balls up the rampy-thing and make them ring the holes." He explained, popping some coins into two machines. There were some clicks and clatters as a slot on each machine opened up and revealed hard plastic (ceramic? Rock? He didn't know _what_ they were made of) balls. He grabbed one and rolled it up the table, neatly ringing the 2000 point hole.

"So all I have to do is get the balls in the hole?" Raven asked, a smirk forming on her face. Beast Boy nodded and grabbed another ball.

He would keep rolling and rolling until his ball count ran out, which would end up being 27000. Feeling proud of himself, he glanced over at Raven's score…35000! And she still had two balls left! His jaw on the floor, he turned to find her looking at him with the last two balls in her hand. She was rolling them around and appeared to be lost in thought.

"Uh…Rae?" He said, waving his hand in front of her eyes. She blinked twice and refocused on him.

"Sorry, I was lost in thought." She said sheepishly.

"I can see that dude." He said, looking at the balls in her hand.

She smirked again. "Give you any ideas?"

"Yeeeep!" He said as he snatched the balls from her and rolled one up the ramp. The other followed shortly and both missed.

"What the hell!" Raven protested, her cloak flashing orange for a moment. "Those were mine and I wasn't done with them!"

Beast Boy stuck his tongue out at her, which was a bad idea seeing as Raven's hand snapped out and grabbed his tongue.

"Wawen, wat awe yoo woowin!" He whined as she pulled him close.

" _Don't_ tease me, Gar." She said with a glare as her cloak flashed red this time. "Not with that."

"Wif wat?" He asked, confused.

Raven rolled her eyes and released his tongue. She wiped her hand on his uniform as he poked his poor pulled tongue.

"I think you broke it." He whined fakely.

Raven stared at him in annoyance for a moment before a small smile found it's way onto her face once more. "Want me to kiss it and make it better?"

Beast Boy blushed and turned away. "Ah, nah, I was just kidding around. Let's, uh, find something else to play!"

He heard Raven sigh in annoyance as he grabbed her hand and drug her to the next game. He had to take his mind off kissing Raven. As nice as it was to think about getting his first kiss, he didn't want it to be over something silly like that. Besides, he wasn't even sure if Raven _wanted_ to kiss him.

* * *

 _Did Raven rub her head again?_

Beast Boy glanced at said girl just in time to see her hand drop to her side. He frowned as he tossed the last of his basketballs into the net. She'd been doing that every few minutes ever since that first game a couple of hours ago. She never said anything about it, but she had done it so much that it was starting to worry him.

 _Why would she keep doing that?_ He wondered as they moved onto a game of air hockey. He popped some tokens in and it started up, the lights flashing and the air pumping out onto the table. _Maybe she has a headache?_

 _From what? Its just me and her in here, not a gazillion other people messing with her empathy._ That smarter part of him said as he knocked the puck at Raven. _Maybe she just needs something to eat or drink? Some people get headaches when they don't get enough every couple of hours._

 _Nah, she just 'ported us in a snack not too long ago…_

 _Dude, I don't think candy and soda is Raven-food…_

… _that's fair, but Rae also doesn't eat as much as anyone else on the team._

… _touché._ The puck slipped past his distracted defense and sunk into his goal. He scowled and tossed it back on the table.

 _That rules out food and people…so what's left?_ He wracked his brain for the duration of the game, not paying attention (other than noticing Raven rub her head again). _Why do I feel like I'm forgetting something..._

"Gar? The game is over…"

Beast Boy looked down at the table and sure enough, it was off. The puck was nowhere in sight and the score read 2 to 9. Raven had won another game while he was zoning out. He scowled at himself and looked up at Raven, who was looking downwards with one hand on her temple again.

He realized that he had to ask her what was wrong just to get to the bottom of this.

"Rae? You okay?" He asked, coming around the table towards her.

She glanced up at him right as the lights on the table went on one of its berserk flashing patterns. She flinched and looked away, nodding. "Yes, I'm fine."

Beast Boy stared at her for a moment, a little more confused. Why did she look away-

 _Dude!_

 _Eh?_

 _The lights!_

 _What about them?_

 _Raven said last night that staring at a tv for too long gives her a headache. We've had her in an arcade with_ _constantly flashing lights_ _for, what, two, maybe three hours now?_

Beast Boy facepalmed so hard that he would have made Sokka proud, causing Raven to look at him with a raised eyebrow. He grabbed her hand and started pulling her to the office.

"Gar, where are we going now?" Raven asked, a tad startled with this sudden change in his demeanor.

 _Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid-_ Beast Boy mentally berated himself as he answered her. "To the office to that bossman dude know that we're leaving."

"Oh. Okay." He heard Raven murmur. _That_ confirmed that she was ready to go.

They got to the office a couple of minutes later (Raven never let go of his hand once) and he knocked on the door. Within a moment the manager opened the door and curiously poked his head out.

"Yes?" He asked.

"Thanks for letting us hang out here for a while, we really appreciate it dude." Beast Boy said with a grin as he continued to mentally yell at himself. _Dumbass, you're out on a date with a hot girl and what do you do? Give her a headache! Baaakkkaaa! No video games for two days and you have to make it up to her too!_

"It's no problem. You two are so much easier to deal with than the hundreds of normal kids that come in every day." The manager chuckled. "I'll let you out, just let me get the keys."

"Actually, I'll just teleport us out to somewhere discreet so that anyone passing by doesn't pester you." Raven offered. The Funland manager was pleasantly surprised at this offer and accepted it.

* * *

Within a couple of minutes Beast Boy found himself back in the park with Raven. They were in one of the smaller fields in the northwestern corner, judging from the smells in the surrounding area. It was nice and sunny and warm outside and the fresh air itself smelled _great_. Beside him, Raven let out a relieved sigh.

Beast Boy shot her a glance, a new idea coming to mind. Since they were in the park, the Book and Bean would be nearby. He should take Raven for a cup of tea and find something else to do afterwards, something _she_ would like. Yes, this was a gooder plan than the last one.

"Is that Beast Boy and Raven?" He heard someone nearby say. He turned until he saw a couple a little older than him and Raven sitting beneath a tree. The girl, blonde with blue eyes, had her head in her boyfriends lap as he reclined against the tree.

"So much for privacy." The guy muttered as he pushed some black hair from his eyes.

"Forget that, they're holding hands!" The girl said as she sat up onto his lap. There was a moment of rustling before the girl got up and the guy followed. She came up to them. Beast Boy glanced at Raven and could _feel_ the annoyance rolling off of her despite her blank face.

"Are you two on a date?" The girl asked excitedly.

"Yeeeeeeep!" Beast Boy said proudly. "I was lucky enough to get a couple of dates with the hottest girl in Jump City!"

Another glance revealed a blush forming across Raven's face and he snickered.

"Awwwww, that's so sweet!" The girl said as she turned to her boyfriend. "Ain't it?"

The guy shrugged. "I guess, though I could have sworn she wasn't supposed to be out in sunlight."

The other three people present stared at him in confusion. "Huh?"

He frowned. "Vampires aren't supposed to in sunlight, right? Don't they, like, turn to ash or something?"

"Dude, she's not a vampire." Beast Boy said in annoyance. The girl slapped her boyfriend on the chest and scolded him, but he just shrugged and said that's what he had heard Raven was.

Beast Boy rolled his eyes and started pulling Raven away. "Well, it was nice talking to you but we have stuff to do. Bye."

"Damnit Derrick, you ran them off before I could get an autograph!" The girl shouted.

"Sorry babe…"

It didn't occur to Beast Boy that Raven had been silent during all of that _and_ their walk to the tea shop. When it _did_ finally hit him, he stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and looked at her. She looked back at him.

"What?" She asked.

"Aren't you mad at what he said?" Beast Boy asked in return.

Raven shook her head. "No, I've been called a lot worse. Vampire is one of the nicer things, assuming he wasn't calling me one of those _Twilight_ abominations."

"Oh."

It was all he could say.

Raven, however, gave him a sly smile as her cloak turned purpley red again. "However, there is _one_ part of that that is accurate…"

He raised an eyebrow. "There is? What?"

Raven stepped up closer to him, like, _really_ close. Her boobs were on his chest, she was so close. He gulped and tried to ignore the sensation as she leaned in to whisper in his ear.

"Like a vampire I'll suck you dry, but it won't be of _blood._ " She purred. The hairs on the back of Beast Boy's neck stood on end and his whole body lit up with goosebumps.

"Suck me dry of what then?" He asked nervously.

"You'll find out. Tonight, if you'd like." She purred again as she stepped back, a _very_ suggestive smile on her face.

"Um, sure?" Beast Boy nodded.

 _Please don't let it be my brains._ He thought as he grabbed her hand once more and led her to the tea shop. _She's died once and came back to life, so that kinda sorta makes her a zombie and I happen to like my brains cause I need them for comics and stuff and playing video games and I_ _really_ _hope she doesn't want my brains!_

 _Settle down dude, it'll be okay. She's not gonna do that, she's not a zombie._

 _Are you sure?_

…

 _THAT'S NOT HELPING!_

"Uh, Gar, lookout for-"

 **BLAM!**

Beast Boy bounced off something and fell back on his ass. Rubbing his now sore nose, he looked up to find…

"Gnark Gnark?" A familiar caveman asked. "Gnark Gnark Gnark?"

Beast Boy saw Kole's pink haired bead poke around Gnark's side. "He asked if you were okay."

Beast Boy nodded and climbed to his feet with Raven's help. "Yeah, I'm cool. Sorry bro, I was spaced out and wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

He heard Raven chuckle as Gnark replied. "Gnark Gnark Gnark Gnark."

"He said its okay Beast Boy." Kole translated. "We were just looking around town for a bit, getting to know the place."

"If the three of you get lost, let us know and we'll come help you." Raven offered.

"Thank you!" Kole said cheerfully.

"Three?" Beast Boy echoed before another head poked around the other side of Gnark. It was Jericho and he waved at Beast Boy. Said Changeling grinned. "Oh, hey dude, didn't see ya through the big guy here."

Jericho gave him a thumbs up then the OK symbol.

"Gnark Gnark." Gnark gnarked.

"Me too, but I don't know anyplace for drinks around here except for McDonald's and you don't like soda very much." Kole shook her head.

"The Book and Bean has all sorts of drinks, including coffee and tea. Tea might be something Gnark likes since its not artificial." Raven said.

"Oh, that sounds good! Will you show us where it is?"

"Sure."

Beast Boy frowned as the two girls walked off. _So much for just me and Rae getting a drink…_

Sighing, he followed them, flanked by the mute Jericho and the verbally challenged Gnark. The crowd parted for the five of them like the idea did for that guy in the bible. What was his name again? Mozart? Yeah, that guy. The people gave them a lot of room to walk.

 _Too bad Raven has her cloak on._ He thought as he stared at it. _I wouldn't mind seeing some more of that awesome butt of hers…_

"Gnark?"

Beast Boy snapped his head up to find that they were coming up on the Book and Bean. He saw Kole open the door and immediately run into someone exiting. He was a full head taller than Kole and wearing a black leather jacket and a dark green shirt on top of black pants. Around his neck was a silver chain with a dragon pendant on it and there was concern in his emerald green eyes as he realized he knocked someone over.

"Sorry." He said, holding his hand out for her. Kole turned bright red and accepted his help. He easily hoisted her back up.

"I-I, um, sorry, uh, for running into you!" Kole squeaked fidgeting with the hem of her skirt and not looking at him.

"No, it's my fault for knocking over a cute girl like you." He replied smoothly. Kole blushed harder, but Beast Boy didn't see why. The dude looked pretty plain to him with big green eyes and brown hair.

 _Must be a girl thing…_ He thought even as he noticed Jericho scowling.

Fortunately for the teen girl, the guy's cell phone rang. He pulled it out and checked the caller before frowning. He glanced up at Kole and his frown turned into a gentle smile.

"Excuse me." He said as he scooted around them and started walking away. Beast Boy could hear Kole's heart pounding in her chest as she and the others walked in.

"Ohmygosh Raven, he was sooooo cute!" Kole gushed. Jericho snorted and Gnark growled at this remark.

"Eh, he was okay. I prefer Garfield." Raven replied. Said green teen had paused at the doorway, listening to the other guy as he walked away.

"For Christ's sake, Landon, what do you want now?"

Beast Boy gazed after him, wondering why he had smelled reptiles and brimstone. It was Raven grabbing his hand and pulling him inside that derailed that train of thought, as well as the smile she was giving him.

 _I could look at that smile forever._ He thought happily.


	12. Chapter 12

**_Surprise._**

* * *

 _Wow, it's packed in here._ Beast Boy thought as Raven drug him into the Book and Bean. There were a dozen people in line ahead of them and probably two dozen more scattered about eating snacks or drinking at tables. Then there were more people out exploring the bookshelves too.

"Right on time."

Beast Boy glanced at Raven, who was looking up at something over the registers. There was a chalk board with the words: BUY ONE GET ONE HALF OFF written in pink chalk. He couldn't help but to chuckle.

"Didn't figure you for a penny puncher, Rae." He teased. Raven rolled her eyes as she pulled him into line.

"I wouldn't say I'm a _penny pincher_ , per say, but I _will_ take advantage of a good deal when I see one." She replied as she scanned the rest of the board. Beast Boy chuckled again as he too scanned the board. He didn't drink tea, really, and he wasn't a coffee person…but a mocha latte sounded nice.

 _I should totally buy Rae's drink too_. He thought as he glanced at her. Her hand was entwined with his own and it felt pretty nice. It was a feeling that he could definitely get used to.

"Gnark? Gnark Gnark Gnark-"

"What? I don't see any- oh, okay! You sure?"

Beast Boy hummed idly to himself as he and Raven stood in line, swinging their arms a little. Raven didn't seem to mind, which was a good thing in and of itself. He had always been a bit of a fidgety guy so if Raven was okay with it then that was great for him.

When they ( _finally_ ) got to the counter, he let Raven order first.

"One chai, medium." She said as she reached for one of the compartments on her belt.

"One mocha latte too." Beast Boy said as he laid a ten dollar bill on the counter. Raven looked surprised, pleasantly so, and gave his hand an appreciative squeeze. He glanced at her and found a small smile on her face, which filled him with pride.

Thankfully, the service was quick during this rush. They got their drinks and found a loveseat to relax on.

"So whatcha want to do after this, Rae?" Beast Boy asked as he sipped his latte. It was good, though it could use a bit more sugar.

"Hmm…" Raven sipped her tea carefully. "Not entirely sure, truth be told. The only things I had planned for today was returning a book to the library."

"You go to the library?"

"Sometimes." Raven replied with a shrug. "Occasionally they get new books in and I find something worthwhile."

"You must have found something pretty good then." Beast Boy chuckled as he watched Jericho, Kole, and Gnark settle at a table nearby. The civilians were giving them weird looks and keeping their distance.

"It's called _Kama Sutra._ It's a self help book of sorts." Raven said softly, more to herself than him. He glanced at her with a raised eyebrow.

" _You_? Reading a self help book?" He asked, wondering if he should be concerned.

A light blush formed on her embarrassed features. "Yes. I need a bit of guidance on…self love…"

 _Self love?_ Beast Boy thought to himself. _Man, she really does have image issues. That sucks. I should figure out how to fix that._

"I think you're great just the way you are, Rae." He said a few moments later. "There's nothing about you to be ashamed of, ever."

Raven's whole face lit up this time and it was _adorable._

"W-well, I-I just…I just wanted to make sure I was doing things right and would do them right." She stammered.

"You'll do fine, Rae. Promise." Beast Boy squeezed her hand a little and smiled at her. After a moment he had a thought and chuckled. "If anything goes wrong, it'll probably be my fault."

"I don't think you could do anything that could make me angry, even if you put it in the wrong h…" She trailed off as she looked at something behind him. She swore. "Azar, I was hoping he wouldn't come in here today!"

Beast Boy turned around (careful of his hot drink) and found a rather tall and muscular guy walking right towards them. His hair was a bit scraggly and he had some five o'clock shadow and a stain on the blue t shirt he was wearing.

"Hey Raven! Fancy meeting you here today!" He called out as he approached. Beast Boy heard Raven make an aggravated noise behind him.

"Hello Anthony." She said monotonously a moment later. The guy moved right in front of them, much to Raven's obvious annoyance.

"Hello to you too Beast Boy! Never heard of you hanging out with Raven before, musta been bored at the tower today." Anthony joked. Beast Boy opened his mouth to reply but the guy kept right on talking. "Raven, can I buy you a drink today?"

Beast Boy did _not_ like Anthony.

"No thank you, I already have one." Raven said pointedly.

"Aw, come on Raven! You _never_ let me buy you a drink!"

"There's _obviously_ a reason for that."

Now Beast Boy _really_ didn't like this guy.

Anthony frowned and started forward. "Come on Raven, just give me a chance, I'm sure you'll-"

In all fairness, that was a really stupid decision. This guy just reached for Raven like Beast Boy wasn't there and he just _reacted_ without thinking, releasing Raven's hand and jumping up.

" _Don't_. _Touch._ _ **My.**_ _Girl._ " He growled in a way so vicious that the whole shop stopped dead in its tracks and stared at him in shock. Beast Boy didn't care though, this inferior male was trying to take Raven from him and there was _no way in Hell_ that was going to happen. He'll tear the punk to shreds first.

Anthony might have been a head taller than the changeling, but he jerked away instantly. Beast Boy's nose filled with the scent of fear and his lips pulled back in a snarl as he took a step forward.

"Jesus Christ man, I didn't know, sorry!" Anthony threw his hands up and backed away more. Unfortunately, he bumped right into the now standing Gnark. He turned and faced the caveman, who _towered_ over him.

"Gnark, Gnark Gnark Gnark Gnark." Gnark said, jerking his head at the door.

Kole gasped. "Gnark! Language!"

Anthony didn't understand what the giant nearly naked man said but he most certainly understood the head jerk and the savage growling behind him. He bolted without so much as a backward glance.

It wasn't until he was out of sight that Beast Boy sat stopped growling and sat back down. That stupid punk, trying to _make_ Raven go on a date with him? Oh no, oh _Hell_ no he was not. Stupid inferior male, trespassing on Beast Boy's territory. Should rip his balls off and-

"Gar?"

Beast Boy was jerked from his dark thoughts by the sound of Raven's voice. It took him a moment to respond to her, seeing as he had to come back to reality. Around them, the shop went back to its regular business, albeit a little quieter and with more than a few wary glances directed at him.

"Yeah?"

"What the _hell_ was that?"

He finally looked at her and found her staring at him in awe. He raised an eyebrow. "What was what?"

"You just…" She trailed off, shaking her head. "That was…Azar, I've been trying to get him to leave me alone for _months_ and you bowed up _once_ and he backed off _immediately!_ "

"Yeah, sorry." He shrugged sheepishly. "Its…an animal thing."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "An _animal_ thing?"

"Yeah…males tend to be a little…" He coughed nervously, " _Territorial."_

Raven stared at him for a moment before she smiled and leaned into his side, wrapping her arm around his. It wasn't the reaction he had been expecting from her but it wasn't unwelcome either. He figured she would get fussy and tell him that she didn't need protecting or anything.

Not that he was complaining, mind you.

"So, who was that guy anyways?" He asked a few minutes later.

"A guy I beat in a poetry contest a few months ago." Raven replied as she cradled her drink and took a sip. "He got real mad that someone beat him until he realized who I was, then started brown-nosing every time he saw me. I was starting to think he was obsessed with me."

Another growl rose unbidden from Beast Boy's throat and he was forced to swallow it. He could feel Raven staring at him, but he refused to look at her. He was honestly bothered by how quickly his animal instincts were kicking in concerning her. This pondering, however, was interrupted by a chuckle from his companion.

The _interruption_ turned into a _derailing_ when a certain sweet smell filled his nostrils.

Now, there were _a lot_ of smells floating around in this shop. Coffees, teas, dozens of people, books, body odor, whatever wafted in through the door, rubber and leather from shoes, the insulation in the ceiling, _everything_ around him had its own scent. He knew what each and every scent was and could track it any given day of the week. Perks of being part bloodhound, part bear, ya know?

But _this_ scent, the one coming from Raven, set his blood on _fire_. It started an itch in his lower regions that most certainly would need a scratching, but that wasn't something he wanted to do in a public bathroom. Raven had always smelled good to him but this was _ridiculous_. Why was she suddenly smelling so damn good?

"Something the matter, Gar?"

His attention was once again jerked back to Raven, particularly to the fact that one of her boobs was now pressed against his arm. Good lord, it was _so soft and squishy!_ He wished it was his face instead of his arm. Wait, she's smiling at him…

"Uh…no?" He said nervously, hoping Raven hadn't heard what he had been thinking.

"Whatever it is, I _can_ help you with it." She practically purred as her cloak changed into that purpley red again.

 _That almost sounds like she knows I'm horny and wants to do something about it._ He thought as he shook his head. "I'm okay Rae, promise."

 _But that's crazy, ya know? Rae's super serious and totes…um…hell, what's the word I'm looking for? Con-something. Constipated? No. Conscripted? Not that one either. Consumed? Nah. Consecrated? No, but close…conservative? Yeah, that's it! She's super conservative._

 _And that means….?_

…

…

 _Okay, I got nothing. But still, dude, that doesn't sound Raven-y at all._

 _Well, she_ _did_ _say that she's been into me for a while…_

 _Yeah but its only date number two! She can't possibly be_ _ **that**_ _into me yet!_

… _fair enough…_

 _On the other hand…_ _boobs._ _Sweet baby Jesus, BOOBS. I want to bury my face in them!_

 _Down boy, down!_

"Gar? Are you listening?"

Yet again, Beast Boy was jerked from his thoughts by Raven.

Only this time she had a communicator in her hand.

He almost scowled. "What is it?"

"Four bank robberies at once, along with a truck jacking and a high speed chase." Raven replied with a sigh.

"All at once?" He asked, surprised. This stuff didn't usually happen like this.

"Robin never reported us as having returned to the police, so I'm guessing that any informants in their ranks didn't find out we were back and passed that info to their bosses." She stood up and gestured towards the other Titans present. "You three are with us, we're hitting a robbery two blocks over."

"Gnark Gnark Gnark Gnark!"

"Um, okay, but me and Gnark have never fought in a city before…"

 _I am ready_. Jericho signed. Raven nodded at them and looked at Beast Boy expectantly.

He sighed and stood up, a little peeved that their date was being interrupted yet again. "Alright, I'm coming."

"Not yet you aren't." Raven muttered. He looked at her, unsure if he had heard her correctly, but she just smirked at him. "Lead on, you have control of this temporary team."

"Alright…" He said uncertainly before he assessed what he had to work with. "Jer, do your ghost thing on the guy closest to any hostages. I want him down before he can turn his gun on any of them. Kole, I suggest shield 'cause these guys use guns and I'm pretty sure Gnark isn't bullet proof. Rae, get the hostages out as quick as you can. We don't have anyone that's crazy strong like Cy or Star, but try not to do anything that'll knock the building down. Our goal is to hit'em hard and fast, dudes, and we _gotta_ do that."

" _Hard and fast_ , my favorite." Raven said with a coy smile. Beast Boy gave her a funny look (cause that was a weird thing to hear) before giving the move out command.

"Titans, go!"

* * *

"Well, that was fun." Raven said sarcastically a while later, her cloak orange. "Maybe next time we can show up late and chase them around, it might be more of a challenge."

Beast Boy glanced up from the police report he was filling out. He wasn't particularly thrilled about sitting on the back of a cop car doing this, but it was better than getting shot at like they had been not twenty minutes before.

Raven caught his glance and gave him a sheepish shrug as her cloak returned to blue. "Sorry, that was just so…"

"Lame?" He offered.

She nodded. "Yeah. Five of them, but only three hostages and an unconscious guard. Jericho took one and dropped another, Kole and Gnark got the other's attention, and you dropped down and took them out. I literally didn't have to do a thing."

He raised an eyebrow. "And that's bad because…?"

"I felt kind of…useless." Raven admitted, looking away towards the crowd of onlookers.

"Dude, you are _totally_ welcome to finish filling this thing out." He chuckled. "I _hate_ these things."

Raven snorted and took the board and pen from him. She looked at it for about two seconds before her face screwed up in confusion. "What in Azar's name is this thing you call _handwriting_? This looks like an epileptic had an episode while there was an earthquake going on!"

"It's not _that_ bad!" Beast Boy protested.

"Gar, I can't read a single word of this!"

Beast Boy rolled his eyes. "Now yer just exaggerating."

"Oh really?" Raven said, raising an eyebrow. "How about I ask an officer?"

"Go for it dude!"

Raven huffed and looked around for a non-occupied officer. She found one and called out to him. He came over a moment later.

"Tell me, does this look eligible to you?" Raven showed him the clip board. Beast Boy wondered why anyone would eat paper.

The man squinted at the sheet. "This looks like the barnyard after two roosters got in a fight, then the hens come through looking for feed."

"What?! It doesn't look _that_ bad!" Beast Boy protested loudly.

"Thank you officer. Can I get replacements?" Raven said as the other sheets burst into pieces and disappeared into a small portal.

"Yes ma'am."

Raven gave Beast Boy a triumphant smile whilst he scowled and grumbled to himself. It was several minutes before he returned.

"Alright Miss Raven, I don't know if anyone told you but these are the new regulation sheets we have. You have to sign your name up here in order for this to be authorized."

Raven wrote her name down, then started filling it out just to be stopped by the cop.

"Your _full_ name, Miss Raven." He pointedly said.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Raven _is_ my full name."

"What? It's just Raven?"

"Mhm."

"Uh…I'm not sure if you should fill this out. The procedure specifically states that a full name, first and last, is required."

"You want _him_ to fill this out then?"

"Uhh…."

"Just use mine, Rae." Beast Boy offered. To him, this was taking too long; he really wanted to get back to their date.

Raven and the cop both looked up at him in surprise, but Raven's level of surprise was _far_ beyond the officers.

" _What_ did you say?" She asked in a slow, hushed tone.

"You can use my last name, Rae." Beast Boy repeated. "I mean, you _need_ one for this and I have one you can have if ya want it. We _are_ going on dates and stuff, after all, so I figure we'll be together a while."

He thought it was awfully nice of him to offer this, but Raven's only response was to drop the pen and stare at him with a full blush on her face. _Why_ she was blushing, he didn't know.

"Beast Boy!"

Said changeling turned around to find Kole waving at him.

"Are we needed for anything else? We want to explore the city more!" She called out.

Beast Boy shook his head. "Nah, go ahead. Rae's filling out the last of the paperwork, then we gotta take our copy to the tower."

"Okaaaaaay!"

The changeling turned back to find Raven filling out the form rather quickly, both her eyes and hand flying across the paper at speeds that Beast Boy wasn't aware anyone could write or read. But then again, this was Raven, the most badass girl he knew.

 _And_ his date.

That was such a happy thought, being on a date with someone. It made him happier that it was Raven, cause half the work of getting to know a girl was already done. Now he just had to figure out if Raven was looking for a serious relationship or just someone to be with for a while.

If he was lucky, he might get some smooching in in a few dates. That would be _awesome_. He's never been kissed before.

"Done!" Raven said a moment later, handing the board to the officer and waiting for their copy. Beast Boy grinned and slid off the car.

"Wanna run back to the tower real quick before finishing our date?" He asked.

Raven nodded rather enthusiastically under her purple hood. " _Definitely._ "

A heartbeat later they dropped through a portal and landed in the tower common room. They immediately spotted Robin, of all people, standing at the main computer watching multiple camera feeds.

"Dude, what are you doing here?" Beast Boy called out.

"I could ask you the same thing." Robin responded as he switched the feed on one cam to another. "I'm coordinating the groups in the field. And you are…?"

"Dropping off this paperwork you love so much."

"Alright." Robin said, never taking his eyes off the screen. "I hate to do this again, but I need you to help out."

"Awwwwww, but dude, our date!" Beast Boy whined.

"I know, I'm sorry, but some of them need help." Robin shook his head. "When its done you can go back to your date and I won't call for you the rest of the afternoon. Promise."

"Ugggggh, fiiiiinnneeeee!"

Raven sighed. "It never ends."

Robin also sighed. "No, it doesn't. Raven, help them with the car chase before someone gets hurt. Beast Boy, I need you down on forty third and Sevenger, to help with that truck jacking. It looks like mob work like the robberies do, so be careful."

"Yeah yeah." Beast Boy grumbled before turning to Raven. "Drop me off, please?"

She simply nodded. "Be safe, Gar."

* * *

What was _supposed_ to be a quick assist with a truck jacking would turn out to be a four hour standoff with various armed criminals in a warehouse down by the docks. The truck had gotten away while Beast Boy was saving a pair of trapped civilians in a half crushed minivan and he, along with the other Titans present, had been forced to track the truck down. Once there they found out that there were _dozens_ of armed men in this previously abandoned warehouse. Beast Boy figured they had moved in while the Titans were out dealing with the Brotherhood of Evil. The men inside the building had shot at anything that so much as twitched, resulting in several injured Titans and two downed officers.

An hour ago Robin finally had enough and called in a full out assault. The Titans, as a whole, had swarmed the building from every direction, including the inside. The resulting explosions and gunfire leveled the building in the end, but they succeeded in bringing down all of the criminals. It was discovered that this building had been intended for this particular mob to get a foothold in the city and the Titans had indeed come back unexpectedly enough for their plans to be thrown in disarray. Had the mob men known the Titans returned, everything would have been done _a lot_ quieter.

"Thanks Rae." Beast Boy said as he rotated his shoulder. He had been slammed against a rusty railing a bit ago and had gotten a pretty nasty cut from it right below his shoulder blade. It had burned something fierce too. He _probably_ could have healed it, but the idea of getting tetanus left him a bit paranoid, so he asked Raven to heal it. Said girl was actually looking more than a bit drained, most likely from healing everyone that had been hurt.

"You're welcome Gar." She said tiredly. Beast Boy grabbed her hand and pulled her in close so that she could lean on him to rest for a moment. She did so quite willingly, pressing her body to his and burying her face in his neck.

It was a really nice sensation, especially with her boobs pressed against him.

"Alright Titans, time to head home." Robin called out a few minutes later.

"I'm too tired to teleport everyone." Raven mumbled.

"That's fine Rae, we got the Herald, remember?" Beast Boy replied before waving at said hero. He waited for him to respond before he made the hand motions for him to port everyone, that Raven was tired. Herald nodded and blasted of a trio of notes that opened a trio of dimensional doors right to the tower common room.

"You know you wanna carry me through."

Beast Boy looked at Raven in surprise and found a teasing smile on her face. It looked great on her and he couldn't help but to smile as a funny idea came to him.

"Your wish is my command, _princess._ " He said right before scooping her up.

Raven actually _squeaked_ in surprise and it was so goshdarn _adorable._

"What are you doing?!" She whispered as he walked towards the portal.

"Carrying you through." Beast Boy chuckled. He noticed that her face was bright red right before she pulled her grey hood down over her face to hide her embarrassment.

"Not in front of all these people!"

Beast Boy laughed this time. "You didn't mind a couple of days ago!"

"That's because things were different then…" She mumbled back. Beast Boy simply shook his head and carried her through princess style.

The common room on the other side of the dimensional doorway was pretty packed, with all sorts of Titans in the way. Why they weren't moving was beyond him.

"A little room, please?" Beast Boy said rather loudly in an annoyed way. Titans big and small spread out, giving them plenty of room to walk.

"Awww, look, BB is carrying Rae-Rae!" Jinx teased. "How sweet!"

"Don't hate, percolate!" Beast Boy shouted back as he walked out the common room door.

Raven peeked out from under her hood. "That's not how you use that word…"

He shrugged. "Never said I knew what it meant."

Raven sighed in exasperation. "Garfield, that word means to strain or filter. It literally made no sense in your sentence."

"Yeah but it rhymed, didn't it?"

"There are over a _thousand_ words that rhyme with hate, including ones with suffixes and phrases, and you had to pick one that had _no_ correlation to what you were saying and _no_ following sentence structure that could possibly justify having that word used out of context all because it rhymed?!"

Beast Boy looked down at her, not having understood a word she said but the last three. "Uh huh…yeah?"

Raven groaned and lay her head against his chest and mumbled to herself.

"You are _so_ lucky you're cute."


End file.
